In recent years, the problem of product theft and plagiarism in the LED industry has always attracted the attention of industry insiders. In the first half of 2016, “patent war” disputes between enterprises occurred frequently. On June 30, Seoul Viosys won the patent infringement lawsuit filed in the United States against the American company SalonSupplyStore; Nichia recently issued a notice stating that in the patent litigation with Everlight in the United States, Nichia won the patent lawsuit in the United States, and Everlight was found guilty of infringement. There are numerous patent dispute cases. In addition, in addition to patent infringement, the problem of product misappropriation and technology misappropriation is also very serious.
A careful analysis of the current situation of the "patent war" in the LED industry will reveal that foreign LED companies pay more attention to patent applications, but many domestic companies have not yet realized the awareness of protecting intellectual property rights. Therefore, the current vigorous "patent war" in the LED industry seems to remain in the international arena, while domestic LED companies' patent disputes seem to be petty disputes that cannot be brought to court.
It can be seen that the "patent war" is not a simple issue. Why can't the domestic "patent war" be fought? How should domestic LED companies deal with patent issues? Should they let it go or form a self-protection model?
Domestic LED companies advocate "borrowingism" and patent protection is in an embarrassing situation
From the perspective of the entire Chinese LED industry, the barriers to entry for LEDs were low at first. In addition, the state was very supportive of the emerging LED industry. It not only implemented policies to encourage it, but also provided a large amount of financial subsidies to some companies. Such long-term development has resulted in domestic LED companies being mixed. Some companies continue to conduct product research and development to expand product strength and corporate influence during development, while some companies are all based on profit and engage in "use-ism."
In the context of frequent "patent wars" in the LED industry, on the one hand, some domestic LED companies have applied for patents abroad, but are not recognized and protected at home. There are even some domestic LED companies whose patents have been plagiarized but cannot defend their rights. On the other hand, there are few domestic laws to protect patents in the LED industry. Therefore, domestic companies are often unable to effectively maintain patents when faced with patent theft and product plagiarism.
When many LED companies encounter domestic patent disputes, they often reserve the right to pursue legal liability for infringements. However, the strength of companies to protect patents seems to only stop at this paper announcement. Most companies cannot make good use of legal weapons to protect their rights and interests. This kind of patent protection often ends in nothing. Not long ago, Chip Optoelectronics spent a huge amount of money to develop "outdoor dual-protection screens" and "outdoor hollow screens" that were "cloned" shortly after they were launched on the market. More than one company infringed its patent rights. Faced with this patent infringement issue, Chip Optoelectronics stated that it would not rule out using legal weapons to protect its own interests. It can be seen that in the domestic LED market, there is almost no recourse for patent infringement and product theft. Generally speaking, most of the domestic plagiarists are small companies. Small companies copy each other in large quantities and have not applied for relevant patents. Therefore, it is very difficult for small companies to maintain their patents. Compared with large companies, even if large companies find that their own companies have been plagiarized and used, they will defend their rights, but small companies cannot pay huge amounts of compensation. This embarrassing situation of having no way to protect patents has caused domestic LED companies to be unable to start a "patent war", and companies whose patents have been stolen also express their helplessness.
Under such an industry background, small and medium-sized enterprises plagiarize more unscrupulously, and even copy patents and intellectual property rights to the end. However, domestic small companies do not have excessive capital costs to invest in technology research and development, nor do they have strong hardware capabilities to compete with big brands in the industry, so plagiarism has become a shortcut that they openly agree with. Moreover, there are more than one copycat companies in the country, and it is very difficult for large companies to sue the court to safeguard patent rights. Even if they win the case through a long litigation process, small companies cannot compensate for all the company's losses. Therefore, large companies not only lose more than the losses through legal means, but also do not receive corresponding compensation. Therefore, when many domestic companies encounter patent infringement and product plagiarism, they just issue official notices without taking legal measures. However, this "warning" method of infringement cannot effectively punish the plagiarizing companies, but is an effective "protection" against plagiarism. Experts said that many companies believe that the "patent war" is a matter for some large companies in the industry, and believe that they cannot be affected at all. Therefore, many small and medium-sized enterprises maintain an attitude of watching the "patent war" and not caring about it, and they still copy the products. Even if you are caught plagiarizing, there is nothing a big company can do. In this domestic patent protection environment, plagiarism cannot be punished as it should be. This is actually a kind of tacit approval and encouragement for plagiarism and patent infringement.
Foreign "patent wars" take a long time and domestic enterprises have difficulty in patent maintenance
In the face of patent infringement and product plagiarism, there are certain problems in LED patent maintenance at home and abroad. Judging from the current situation of foreign LED patent maintenance, companies apply for patents abroad, but cannot form a certain protection system at home. The application of such patents has greatly restricted some Chinese companies operating abroad, and there are great disadvantages in corporate patent applications and intellectual property protection. Moreover, the trials of some international patent dispute cases currently take a long time, and even if the lawsuit is finally won, it will not be able to recover much losses for rights protection companies. For example, on January 25, 2016, the U.S. Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Texas ruled that Everlight Electronics and its U.S. subsidiary Everlight Americas, Inc. had infringed on three Nichia patents - U.S. Patent No. 8,530,250, U.S. Patent No. 7,432,589, and U.S. Patent No. 7,462,870. This lawsuit went through a full two-year trial period, which was a huge investment for the company.
Compared with the foreign LED "patent war", the domestic "patent war" has not actually started. Domestic products are more "cloned", plagiarized and misappropriated. However, with the spread of patent issues, many companies and many domestic companies have realized the importance of patents and formed a "protective umbrella" through patent cross-licensing with international giants. Dongbei Optoelectronics has obtained OSRAM white light LED patent authorization; Suijing Optoelectronics, Yimeixin Lighting, Jufei Optoelectronics, Ruifeng Optoelectronics, Kelinhexin Electric, Lingtao Optoelectronics and other mainland companies have obtained Toyota white light LED patent authorization; Jingyuan and Cree have signed a global LED chip patent cross-license agreement. The implementation of this patent protection barrier by companies has indeed played a role in avoiding "patent wars" to a certain extent, but the most critical thing is that companies should enhance their awareness of self-legal protection.
With the gradual deterioration of the "price war" in the LED industry, the LED industry currently lacks an exact industry standard to maintain industry order, both domestically and internationally. To avoid plagiarism and misappropriation, in addition to the integration of the entire large industry, the most fundamental need is to start with institutional norms. In this regard, the government should strengthen patent maintenance strategies and introduce corresponding regulatory systems to protect corporate patents. It should help companies safeguard their patent rights, formulate certain punitive measures for plagiarism companies, and establish relevant institutions for patent maintenance to avoid companies spending lengthy court trials on patent disputes. It should optimize related procedures for patent maintenance and help more companies embark on the road to effective patent protection. In addition, in order to solve the patent problem, not only the support of the government and the regulation of the system are needed, but also the continuous innovation of LED companies and the conscious elimination of plagiarism and copying. Only then can the industry form a good patent atmosphere and promote the continuous development of the entire LED industry.
In general, no matter how the government and enterprises maintain the patent protection environment in the LED industry, it is inseparable from the construction of enterprises' own intellectual property awareness. Only by attaching importance to intellectual property rights can enterprises increase technology research and development and patent applications, eliminate plagiarism and misappropriation, and make a difference in patent protection. Only in this way can the entire LED industry avoid "patent wars" and achieve a good patent protection model. Companies whose patents have been stolen or whose products have been copied must actively stand up to protect their patents, call on more LED companies to apply for patents and respect intellectual property rights.
ANNA