Walmart, Amazon, Target sued over patent

Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart, Seattle-based Amazon and Minneapolis-based Target are among a slew of retailers facing a lawsuit for allegedly selling a wildly popular type of light bulb without proper authorization.

According to Forbes, Walmart, Amazon, Target, Ikea and Bed Bath & Beyond were sued by the University of California on Tuesday for patent infringement relating to "filament" LED light bulbs, or lightbulbs with visible, glowing filaments to give them a vintage appearance. 

The university says that it is bringing the lawsuit in order to protect "the reinvention of the light bulb" by a team of researchers led by Nobel Prize winner Shuji Nakamura at the University of California, Santa Barbara, according to Forbes. It says that university researchers invented and patented a filament LED technology that uses a fraction of the energy than traditional incandescent light bulbs use, plus lasts longer and stays cooler, according to the complaint.

To read the Forbes article, click here.