1.PACid Technology sued Samsung for infringing on its patents and claimed USD 2.8 billion;
According to Korean media reports, a US data encryption company PACid Technologies filed a lawsuit in the US District Court in Texas, accusing South Korea’s Samsung Galaxy S-series smartphones of infringing on the company’s data encryption patents. By Galaxy S-series smartphones Fingerprint recognition or facial recognition function, data encryption technology infringed the company's three patents, of which two were filed in the United States and the third was submitted in Korea.
PACid Technology stated that it infringed on the company's data encryption patents for Samsung Galaxy S-series smartphones, including the S6, S7, S8 and S8 Edge. In addition, Samsung's biometric operating system PASS and security system KNOX also involved related infringement. Over the past 3 years, Because Samsung smartphones have a high volume of sales in the global market, it is estimated that the PACid technology claim amount may be as high as 3 billion US dollars.
These technologies are allegedly involved in all three biometric security supported by these devices: fingerprints, faces and irises. Public legal documents show that Samsung Electronics USA received a court summons on April 10. The company has not released any relevant laws Statement of lawsuit.
However, some people in the industry pointed out that PACid Technology is similar to the 'patent rogue' in the technology industry. The company has initiated patent litigation against Google, Apple, and Nintendo in the past. Samsung is currently leading the cross-industry standard authentication technology alliance FIDO including biometrics technology certification. The future judgment of this case will also affect the future rights of the alliance members.
2. It has been watched by 'patent rogues'. A Korean company claims Apple's Touch ID technology infringement;
According to Korean media reports, a South Korean company named Firstface stated that it owns a patent on a key technology of Apple's Touch ID fingerprinting. At the same time, Firstface has publicly stated its intention to file a lawsuit against Apple.
Firstface co-CEO Jung Jae-lark has registered his own patents in several countries since 2011, including Korea, Japan, and the United States. The patent includes the user's ability to use Fingers on the home with a built-in fingerprint recognition sensor. After verifying the identity on the key, unlock the smartphone home screen and other processes immediately.
Shim Young-tack, another co-CEO of Firstface, said, “Before this patent of Jung Jae-lark, there was never a smart phone using this method to activate the home screen. ' At the same time, he also suggested that Apple purchase patents. Licensed to use but rejected by Apple.
According to a report from Business Korea, Firstface may be a patent rogue company created specifically for the prosecution and describes the company as a 'patent risk company'. Firstface also claims that Samsung is also on its own list of lawsuits and has filed Filed a lawsuit.
It is worth mentioning that Firstface also has patents in the field of face recognition, and may also propose new lawsuits against Apple in the future.
Patent so-called rogues are those companies that rely on so-called “rights protection” to make profits after purchasing patents, and Apple is usually the favorite target of patent rogue companies. Recently, there have been sporadic patent litigations against Apple. Texas, USA The federal jury ruled on Tuesday that functions such as Apple's video call FaceTime infringed on the four security communications patents of the network communications company VirnetX, which required a compensation of US$502.6 million.
3.Samsung, Apple's illness, the two major mobile phone factories face the same patent litigation;
Samsung and Apple, two smart phone makers, are in trouble with each other in the fierce market competition. Among them, Samsung is facing a US$3 billion patent lawsuit in the United States, and Apple is a South Korean fingerprint identification solution company crossing the sea in the United States. Sue. The two companies are concerned about how to deal with lawsuits.
According to the South Korean media “The Investor” report, a US data encryption company PACid Technologies filed in the US District Court of Texas, the United States, instructs Han Samsung’s Galaxy S-series smartphones to infringe the company’s data encryption patents. With the Galaxy S-series smartphones. Fingerprint recognition or facial recognition function, data encryption technology infringed the company's three patents, of which two were registered in the United States and one was registered in South Korea.
The report pointed out that PACid Technology stated that it infringed on the company’s data encryption patents Samsung Galaxy S series smartphones, including S6, S7, S8 and S8 Edge. In addition, Samsung’s own biometric operating system PASS and security system KNOX also involved related infringements. In the past three years, because of the high sales volume of Samsung smartphones in the global market, it is estimated that the PACid technology claim amount may be as high as 3 billion US dollars.
However, people in the industry pointed out that PACid technology is similar to "patent rogue" in the technology industry. The company has initiated patent litigation against Google, Apple, and Nintendo in the past. Samsung is currently leading the cross-industry standard authentication technology alliance FIDO including biometrics technology certification. The future verdict of this case will also affect the future rights of the alliance members.
In addition to Samsung's patent litigation, it is no coincidence that Apple has also attracted a patent right. "The Investor" also reported that South Korea's mobile technology company Firstface is preparing to file a cross-border patent litigation in the United States to sue Apple's fingerprint identification and unlocking technology. The company's patents.
Firstface stated that the company has registered patents in South Korea, Japan, and the United States since 2011. The patent allows users to unlock the smart card by pressing a finger on the home button with fingerprint recognition function to perform identity authentication. Mobile Phone. This technology is called Touch ID by Apple and was first introduced in iPhone 5s in 2013. Firstface stated that this patented technology is owned by the company and its patent number is US2015077859A1.
The report further pointed out that Firstface had negotiated with Apple and hoped that the two parties would sign a licensing agreement to resolve the issue. However, Apple rejected the amount of the Firstface licensing agreement. Therefore, the company will initiate a patent litigation against Apple. Apple declined to comment on the matter. Technews
4. Samsung Electronics will increase the number of patents in the United States;
Gathering micro-network news, Yonhap News reported that industrialists said on Friday that as the industry's intellectual property disputes are heating up, Samsung Electronics is actively increasing its number of patent holdings in the United States. The data show that as of the end of 2017, Samsung Electronics holds worldwide A total of 119,337 patents were held. The number of patents held in the United States was 46,150, followed by South Korea’s 24,860 and Europe’s 10,509. At the same time, Samsung also held 11,005 patents and 7,076 patents in China and Japan.
Samsung obtained 6,072 patents in the United States last year, and remained Intel’s second largest patent holder in North America for the 12th consecutive year.
Samsung said that the company is trying to further increase the number of patents in the United States in order to cope with potential technical disputes.
5.Samsung and Huawei have lost their patents. Several products will be banned in China;
According to foreign media reports, according to foreign media news, the Beijing Intellectual Property Court concluded the Patent Review Board of the plaintiff Samsung and the defendant State Intellectual Property Office, and the third-party Huawei Technologies, Huizhou Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., and Tianjin Samsung Communications Technology Co., Ltd. The patent for invalidity was declared to request administrative disputes, and Huawei's patent rights in the case were valid.
According to a report by the South China Morning Post on Wednesday, the Beijing Intellectual Property Court upheld a previous court ruling that Samsung was sentenced to immediately stop manufacturing, selling, and promising sales to infringe Huawei’s patent rights. Some of Samsung’s electronic products will be banned from selling in China. According to the verdict, Samsung’s 22 products are banned from selling, and they are also required to compensate Huawei for the economic loss of 80 million yuan and the reasonable cost of 500,000 yuan to stop the infringement.
In response, Huawei stated in a statement: 'Huawei believes that the reorganization and protection of each other's intellectual property can enable R&D investment to pay off, and promote industry innovation and healthy and sustainable development of the industry.'
According to the latest report from market research firm Strategy Analytics, Samsung’s smartphone market share in China dropped to 0.8% in the fourth quarter of 2017.
Foreign media said that although the court’s verdict has been announced, it has not affected Samsung’s sales in China because its latest flagship model, the Galaxy S9 series, and other series of products are still being sold in Chinese retail stores and online stores.
6. China is narrowing the gap between technological and intellectual property rights in the United States
According to a report from Reuters on April 13, according to Reuters, in terms of patent experts, China’s increasing investment in researching and expanding higher education systems means that it is rapidly closing its gap with the United States in the field of intellectual property. It also means that it is striving to become the world's largest technological power.
Patent experts said that although US President Donald Trump threatened to impose punitive tariffs on high-tech products exported by the United States, it may slow China’s momentum, but it will not play a role in reversing the situation. China has said that China has been engaged in intellectual property theft activities for many years - Beijing denies this - this is a major cause of the worsening trade conflicts between China and the United States.
How long will China shrink the technological gap? Experts' predictions are not the same - but several patent experts said that this may happen in the next 10 years. China has surpassed the United States in several ways.
David Shen, head of Chinese intellectual property at global law firm Allen & Overy, said, 'Given the number of scientists trained in China each year, whatever the United States does, China will eventually catch up.'
In the eyes of intellectual property lawyers, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged earlier this week to protect foreign intellectual property, reflecting confidence in himself. The country is currently a leading innovator in communications and online payment and other fields. The field also has the ability to catch up.
According to data from the World Intellectual Property Organization, last year, China replaced Japan as the world’s second-largest international patent application country, with an annual growth rate of 13.4%. According to this growth rate, it will also surpass the United States more than a year later. This is the The strong ambition of the country is reflected.
This progress is based on the possibility of further strengthening.
China’s current R&D expenditures account for 2.1% of its gross domestic product (GDP), which has not yet reached the US level of 2.75%. However, compared with the level of only 0.7% in the 1990s, the growth rate is significant, and it is also close to economic cooperation. Average level of 2.35% of OECD member countries.
According to the World Bank data, China currently has 1,177 R&D personnel per million people, which is three times the level of the 1990s and is in line with the world average. The number of researchers generated per million population in the United States is much higher. 4321 people - but this advantage is greatly weakened because China’s population has reached about four times its total population.
The number of Chinese researchers will only increase.
According to statistics from the UNESCO, China’s current percentage of students in higher education is more than 40%, which is half that of the United States, but it is an alarming increase compared to its level of just 0.1% in the 1970s.
Richard Titherington, Asia's emerging market chief investment officer at JPMorgan Chase Asset Management, said, 'If you look ahead to 5 to 10 years, you will see a more equal competitive environment for innovation. , Especially in the field of network platform, digital innovation, machine learning and artificial intelligence. 'The company's assets under management reached 80 billion US dollars.
Tisselling said that online payment is the most obvious example of China surpassing the United States. In China's big cities, mobile payment almost completely replaces credit card payments, while 'the United States still has many people still using cheques'.
He said that the stock market provides a window for understanding China’s progress – at least in the eyes of investors. In social networking, Facebook’s total return since its listing in 2012 was 373%, and Tencent’s total return was 883%. In the field of micro-blogging, Twitter's total return since listing in 2014 was -28%, while microblogging reached an astonishing 656%.
However, intellectual property experts pointed out that China is still lagging behind in the fields of semiconductors, robotics and biotechnology.
Quality gap
The number of patents cannot explain everything. In terms of quality, there is still a clear gap between China and the United States, so it will take longer to catch up.
Huawei is the only Chinese company to be included in the list of “Top 100 Innovators” last year by Clarivate Analytics. The selection of this list is based not only on the number of patents but also on the influence of the company on other organizations.
According to data from global information analysis company Elsevier, in 2016, China published nearly 500,000 scientific papers, ranking second in the world, and the United States published 600,000 articles. The gap between the two parties has decreased in just 5 years. Half.
But on average, the average Chinese scientific paper was cited 0.93 times, while the US scientific paper was 1.23 times. The number of citations can reflect the value of researchers' research results in the eyes of their peers.
On that indicator, among the countries that have published more than 10,000 papers, China ranks 33rd and 11th behind the US. Gabriela Kennedy, Asia’s head of intellectual property at Mayer Brown JSM, a global law firm. ) Said that that may be an indicator to measure the quality of research work in each country.
'(Chinese) is very successful in some big companies, but outside of those companies, they are not particularly innovative. ' Kennedy said, 'But I don't think it will take a long time to change.'
Lawyers said that if Washington hopes to slow down China’s technological progress, it may consider taking measures to further restrict US companies’ licensing of products to Chinese companies and expand the definition of trade secrets.
However, they also warned that tougher regulations may backfire because companies can evade, including setting up entities outside the United States to maintain access to the vast Chinese market.
'If the U.S. government chooses to polarize and does not allow U.S. companies to provide their intellectual property in China, then it will also hurt U.S. companies. 'The partner of Clifford Chance, said Ling Ho, an intellectual property dispute expert.
Political will
President Xi Jinping promised on Tuesday that China will protect the intellectual property rights of foreign companies and expressed the hope that other countries will also protect the intellectual property rights of Chinese companies.
Lawyers pointed out that China’s intellectual property protection law is equivalent to that of the United States and Europe. Its deficiency lies in enforcement. The reason is that the degree of bureaucratism is high. Court judgments apply to the provincial level rather than the whole country. Different judges often have different laws. Explanation.
However, Baker McKenzie Law Firm's China and Hong Kong intellectual property business chief Chen Leyu said that China’s recent reorganization of the State Intellectual Property Office showed political intentions and should bring about more consistent law enforcement.
'The political will of the government is expressed in a very powerful way. Once it is conveyed to every subordinate official, it is expected to have very positive results. 'He said, 'Our customers will be more encouraged and will receive more.' The incentive to test their case. '