LED patent deciding life and death? How to lose ground

Due to lack of core patented technology, the LED industry in China had to face the grim problem of patent disputes. China LED companies how to bypass patent barriers to avoid the patent trap, win the market and the needs of industry, the legal profession, and the government work together to build a LED patent strategy, establishing effective intellectual property early-warning mechanism to create a good ecological environment for industrial development. This is the LED business we need to think about the problem.

Now, LED many industry giants belong to Japan, the United States. Under normal circumstances, the company will be the first new technology in their patent applications, patent applications in the LED field in Japan, the United States is far ahead.

Looking back on China, the the LED patent application in China reached more than 26,000, of which nearly 50% in the midstream and downstream packaging and application of the patent. However, the majority of these patents are not original, mostly on the basis of the international LED giant original patent, do some tinkering, its patented gold content is also greatly reduced.

If we really playing with international LED giant patent lawsuit LED patents for inventions nearly 70% of the domestic enterprises may be invalid. According to the annual report or prospectus of the domestic LED enterprises data obtained, Ruifeng power, Hongli Opto-electronic, Lehman photoelectric dry according to optical, three optical and BDO the Runda six enterprises LED total number of patents in the 707 invention patents only 77. BDO Runda 44 invention patents, its sources of invention patents acquired the Korean EPIVALLEY.

Most of the technology patent in LED Japan and South Korea and some European and American manufacturers control, such as Cree, Philips, Osram, Nichia and Toyoda Gosei. LED domestic enterprises due to the poorly understood patented technology, often a number of large international companies, the lawsuit, they have not fared well in the face of the domestic LED fierce competition of the case, but also the face of international technology patents disputes.

Today, LED industry leading core strength distribution in the three regions of Asia, the United States and Europe, and the three regions of the LED industry, each with its own characteristics, on behalf of the enterprise, the U.S. Cree, Lumileds, Japan's Nichia, Toyoda Gosei, Germany's Osram and Philips of the Netherlands.

Overall, several companies in the upstream LED occupies a dominant position and control the entire market big trend.

Since the core technology of LED lighting control manufacturers such as Nichia and Cree, and by technology patent cross-licensing, the whole market they hold, such as Toyoda Gosei with CREE of Lumiled, Nichia, Osram manufacturers have had co-operation last year, and Taiwan Epistar LED technology cross-licensing, the two sides including subsidiary can use each other to each other III-V semiconductor light-emitting diode (LED) technology patents, including blue InGaN (indium gallium nitride ) LED with a four-AlGaInP (AlGaInP) LED technology. OSRAM Taiwan's Lite-On Technology, the cross-licensing of patented technology, Osram authorized the production and sales of Lite-On Technology Surface Mount LED (SMT LED) and a white LED conversion technology. Osram holds patents for these technologies, Typical applications include mobile phones and car radio display backlight. Lite-On Technology provides a special manufacturing process patents granted to Osram.

Many LED companies in the process of the development of China's LED industry, patent disputes, but some Chinese LED enterprises completely unaware of whether the infringement there a reason these LED companies do not yet know the LED patent rules of the game, the lack of relevant patented technology talent. China LED companies in mind the concept of technology patents, and take corresponding measures in response drawbacks, they can only be foreign manufacturers brazenly sued.

Patent, will determine the survival of the enterprise?

The face of an emerging industry, the patent war is almost impossible to avoid. In the industry at the beginning, only of those eyes Zhuoda the enterprise, they will layout to the core of this industry and technology, put in a lot of R & D to the layout of the patent themselves in after a long period of development in a proactive position. For only the most basic in the upstream areas of technology in the LED industry chain, so has the greater value. LED industry in China started relatively late in upstream technology patents almost a monopoly, and if they can not invest in basic technology research and development, to find a new path to find a breakthrough point, and then must be at a disadvantage in the international patent war.

- Senior intellectual property attorney Huyi Desk

Many international giants to treat China's LED business is a "pig" mentality, wait until the production of domestic enterprises on the scale, they will not hesitate to lift the "big stick" of intellectual property litigation. With the rapid development of the domestic LED lighting industry, infringement proceedings have been getting closer and closer to us. Although reconciliation is most of the final result of the litigation, but reconciliation must be the hands of the respondent party brand, not some kind of show for the patent, is very difficult reconciliation.

- Nanotechnology and Simulation Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou researcher Liang Bingwen

For new enterprises in China are not resolved independently, regardless of how much the development of enterprise scale, there are hundreds, even thousands of patents, this risk is there, so to avoid the risk, First, do not easily blindly into foreign markets, if they go into the best channels to be able to get some of the authorization, or do some of the work of the "patent pool", that would form a new protection, we go into the foreign markets. But for some businesses, regardless of upstream and downstream, the seriousness of this problem, the pressure is the same.

- InvenLux Optoelectronics (China) Co., Ltd. president Yan Chunhui

The industry patent litigation frequency since, to talk about this issue for many years, summed up in one sentence is: the money for the research and development of technology, the R & D, to spend money.

- Suzhou New Nanocrystalline Photoelectric Co., Ltd. General Manager Wang Huaibing

Patent predicament, for which an active fight?

We have a technical team of experts from the global industry leader, has a strong independent R & D and innovation ability, for example, we are fully committed to research and development to create the next generation of large-size sapphire growth technology and process. With core technology advantage, the only way out. On the one hand, to ensure that the sapphire crystal size and quality of the world's leading; On the other hand, in the system and intellectual property strategy fully with international standards to avoid patent disputes.

- Guizhou Haotian Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd., chairman of quarter Swimming

Epistar in mainland China will send support engineers, customers in the course of any problems with Epistar mainland only official sales channels the crystal ingot morning Optoelectronics (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. to contact to seek help, even the engineers of the factory in Taiwan can also to the mainland to assist. If customers need to be forward-looking, future-oriented LED application products, Epistar R & D engineers in Taiwan to mainland China with customers collaborative design, development, and work together to solve the problem.

- Epistar Corporation Vice President Dr. Xie Mingxun

In Europe, the Americas and China, we have been successfully applied for several patents. With increasingly sophisticated Chinese thirst for high-tech and protection of intellectual property rights, and I believe that we, as well as we have this high-tech enterprises can get better legal protection. In addition, we are also actively initiate and cooperate in good faith and medium-sized domestic enterprises signed a memorandum of cooperation to jointly protect the technological advantages, and anchored to seek common development. I believe this is a realization Salem, optoelectronics, win-win and common development of domestic enterprises and the cause of the photoelectric road.

- The British Salem photoelectric Co., Ltd. Zhang Tong, vice president of

LED industry is emerging high-tech industries, the global technology, no company has completely reached maturity, the top technical level.

From the LED global patent technical structure and layout of the situation, the patent application 40% concentrated in the package, followed by the application (26%), and extension (17%), the substrate and White patent at least. Multinational companies started earlier patent layout, more to master the basic patents of LED, non-core patents and many patents are about to expire, it can end reconciliation or signed a patent cross-licensing from international LED patent litigation been verified.

Since its inception, the company attaches great importance to patent protection has been applied for a series of patents for inventions in the substrate, epitaxy, chip preparation technology, I believe that our continued innovation and R & D for the company involved in the division of the global LED industry market competition to win status.

- Wuhan Di source Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd., general manager across the Country

LatticePower is the global leader in silicon-based LED product R & D and manufacturing, has successfully achieved the production of the low-power and high-power silicon LED product has unique advantages in lighting applications, and patent protection, (LatticePower) has applied for over 200 patents, patents have been laid out in China, the United States, European Union, Japan, South Korea and other countries and regions, covering a silicon-based LED epitaxy, chip, package, and many other technology . On the export side, we have independent intellectual property rights, without any problem.

- Lattice Power (Jiangxi) Co., Ltd. Marketing Director Zhang Shaohua

First, raise awareness, and increase investment. Enterprises should bring awareness of intellectual property, from the initial growth of slowly accumulated, to invest should spend in the field of intellectual property.

Second, appropriate introduction of external intellectual property rights, fight to buy some technology patents, even jointly funded by a number of companies in order to get licensed. Again, according to their own characteristics and advantages, select one of the technical aspects of the industry chain patent layout, fight for bargaining chips.

Finally, attention should be paid to the trade secrets disputes. Currently, many of the technical staff of the LED business in China mainland are dug up from the Taiwan region of China, the relevant team will result in a technical infringement and disputes, the need to attract enough attention.

- China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology Software and Integrated Circuit Promotion Center Intellectual Property Deputy Director, You Tao

The industry had predicted, lighting core technology lies in the case of the European countries, the next 2 to 3 years, likely will appear the foreign giant collective sue local small and medium-sized lighting companies patent infringement event. While the government moves to guide the enterprise itself should raise awareness of self-protection, but also to "hold together" response.

If only reasonable thoughts, but no effective response program, as will the incidence of the development of the LED business will have a significant contusion. LED patent disputes cause of the process and the outcome has a comparative understanding of the nature of their future will see the light.