"Color Kinetics supports the widespread adoption of intelligent solid-state lighting through an open and active OEM and Licensing program, and we're pleased to help these companies go to market quickly and easily with value-added offerings based on proven technology," said Bill Sims, President and COO, Color Kinetics. "By extending our core expertise, technologies and complete system approach to third parties, we're creating more choice in the marketplace while maximising the return on our investment in innovation."

Meanwhile Color Kinetics has been awarded another US patent that extends the coverage of its core methods for controlling LED-based illumination, including use of standard DMX512 protocol.

Patent number 6,788,011 relates in part to an LED-based lighting system comprising a user interface and an addressable controller that receives a network signal: it attempts to include any and all such protocols, among them DMX512. The patent extends Color Kinetics' coverage of techniques for controlling the output of LEDs beyond pulse width modulation, for which it received a controversial earlier patent.

"This is a significant addition to our patent portfolio, given its added protection of our fundamental control technology," said George Mueller, chairman and CEO, Color Kinetics. "This innovation underlies nearly all of Color Kinetics' intelligent lighting systems, and the additional coverage strengthens our competitive position while fuelling potential for OEM and licensing relationships across diverse markets where the capability for intelligent control is increasingly valuable."