Editor's note: A decision by the German Supreme Court dismissed the Italian SISVEL company's reconsideration request. Changhong has waited for 7 years. This ruling means that Changhong is in this multinational patent litigation between Italy and SISVEL. Finally win. Want to understand the ins and outs of this multinational patent litigation? Continue reading.
A German Supreme Court rejected the ruling of the Italian Sisvel Company's (hereinafter referred to as Sisvel) reconsideration request. Sichuan Changhong Electronics Holdings Group Co., Ltd. (hereafter referred to as Changhong) had waited for 7 years! This also means that Changhong’s cross-border Patent litigation finally won.
In recent years, with the continuous development of China's household electrical appliance enterprises, 'going out' has become a necessary path. While China’s home appliance companies account for an increasing proportion of the international market share, foreign companies are also waving their “Intellectual Property Right”. Sticks'. For the challenges China's home appliance companies face in the international market, relevant experts suggest that on the one hand, we must strengthen independent innovation and introduce new technologies; on the other hand, we should work hard to raise awareness of intellectual property protection and reduce international intellectual property rights. The gap, and we must vigorously cultivate talents who are good at dealing with international intellectual property disputes.
Meet the challenge and fear the patent giant
'If you want to export electronic products such as MP3 to Europe, it is best to obtain a Sisvel patent license to avoid potential infringement disputes. 'Sisvel company, familiar with the company in the field of consumer electronics and home appliances in China, as A company that specializes in patent licensing to obtain benefits, Sisvel's patents are mainly standard essential patents required for standardization in the field of consumer electronics, including early audio compression standards such as MP3 and MPEG Audio, and television video related technologies such as wide On-Screen Signaling (WSS), Screen Display Technology (OSD), Automatic Tuning and Sorting System (ATSS), etc. After more than 30 years of development, Sisvel has a global presence in countries such as Italy, the United States, Japan, and Germany. There are branch offices in the area.
In 2009, Sisvel Corporation, with all its TV-related patent pools, including ATSS technology and wideband signal-automatic switching television image format (WTSS) technology, contacted Changhong Company for several times and negotiated patent licenses. However, Changhong Company believes that The patented technology of its related products does not fall into Sisvel's patent pool, nor does it use Sisvel's claimed patented technology. Since then, the two parties have carried out several patent licensing negotiations, but none have reached an agreement.
In September 2011, the International Consumer Electronics Show (IFA) in Berlin, which was very large and influential in the field of audio-visual and consumer electronics products, kicked off. When Changhong Corporation was fully involved in the exhibition, it received one from In a subpoena in the Mannheim District Court in Germany, Sisvel sued Changhong and its customers in Germany for patent infringement, and requested Changhong to stop selling its related products in Germany and compensate for economic losses. Subsequently, Changhong immediately launched In response to the plan, a German local law firm was quickly commissioned as a representative, and within two weeks, an agency reply and relevant respondent documents were submitted to the court. In May 2012, the German Mannheim District Court made a first-instance judgment. It was determined that Changhong did not infringe Sisvel's patent rights and rejected all of Sisvel's lawsuit requests. Sisvel, dissatisfied, appealed to the High Regional Court in Karlsruhe, Germany.
Afterwards, Changhong immediately submitted its reply and employed a number of German experts to conduct a careful analysis of the case. In April 2014, the Higher Regional Court of Karlsruhe, Germany, ruled that Changhong did not infringe Sisvel's Patent right. Sisvel dissatisfied and appealed to the Supreme Court of Germany. In April 2018, the German Supreme Court dismissed Sisvel's request for re-examination. At this point, Changhong and Sisvel's patent infringement lawsuit lasted for 7 years and finally came to an end.
In an interview with a reporter from the China Intellectual Property News, Chang Dehong’s senior manager of intellectual property rights, Deide Jian, introduced: 'The reason why this victory was won is due to the company’s confidence in its intellectual property rights and its high regard for intellectual property lawsuits. After learning that the company has been sued, the company immediately organizes the respondent team to cooperate with the external lawyer team to jointly conduct patent analysis, technical analysis, market analysis, legal analysis, and third-party testing, in order to be able to accurately and quickly respond to litigation procedures. During the seven-year lawsuit and two-plus years of negotiations, many Chinese companies that were sued by the Sisvel Company to the courts, Japanese and Korean companies, etc., have all signed a patent license agreement with Sisvel Corporation and reached a settlement. Changhong, on the other hand, depends on itself. The strength and correct response strategy eventually won the victory.
Make up the short board to be able to sit back and relax
In recent years, China's domestic appliance brands have entered the overseas market after completing the leap from 'Made in China' to 'Created in China.' Relevant data show that China has become the largest producer of household appliances in the world, however, China’s home appliances While aggressively expanding its overseas market, the company has become a “sword of Damocles” that hangs on top of its business.
In November 2015, the District Court of Düsseldorf, Germany, issued a verdict on two cases of patent infringement disputes between Sisvel AG v. Haier AG and Haier Europe Trading AG (hereinafter referred to as Haier) infringing its wireless technology portfolio. Haier stopped the sale of mobile devices including Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) and General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), submitted accounts, and compensated for economic losses; in June 2017, Sharp filed a lawsuit with the California State Court to request a court Decided that Hisense Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Hisense Group) would stop using the 'SHARP' trademark and make a compensation of at least 100 million U.S. dollars; soon, Sharp sued Hisense Group for the ban on the sale of related products on the grounds that Hisense Group infringed its patent rights. At the same time asked the US International Trade Commission (ITC) to investigate Hisense Group.
A number of experts said that despite the continuous learning of lessons learned during the 'going out' process in recent years, Chinese household electrical appliance companies are actively improving their own intellectual property rights, including the signing of a patent licensing agreement with international home appliance companies, while striving to improve their technical level. , Actively participate in the development of standards, etc. However, due to the use of intellectual property as a means of competition, the lack of high-value patents, the investment in intellectual property rights, etc. Appliance companies are still in a passive position.
'Now, many home appliance companies in Europe, America, Japan and other developed countries are playing a 'patent revenue-generating' abacus. These companies have obtained a considerable amount of patents through the operation of the company, and other companies to achieve a licensing agreement, etc., to obtain considerable income. ' Dejian stated that as early as 2014, there was news that Matsushita Corporation of Japan established a new company with patents and other intellectual property rights as the main responsibility for patent applications, management and transfer negotiations.
Then how should China’s home appliance companies deal with these challenges? Some experts pointed out that further improving innovation capabilities and promoting new innovations are the most powerful bargaining chips for China’s home appliance companies. “Lee Zhenpeng, a senior industrial economic observer, believes that Chinese companies can only break the technology of foreign companies. Barriers to 'restoring'.
In addition, Dai Dejian also briefed reporters on their experience. First, to make up for the 'shortcomings' of weak corporate intellectual property protection awareness, the company’s management must not only have the awareness of intellectual property protection, but also the company’s ordinary employees need to have Awareness of intellectual property rights. Second, we must develop patent-level management to achieve equal emphasis on quantity and quality of patent applications, and vigorously foster high-value patents. Third, we must actively cultivate professionals capable of dealing with complex international intellectual property-related issues and actively explore intellectual property operating models. Finally, once a patent infringement lawsuit is encountered abroad, it should quickly cooperate with a foreign local lawyer team to conduct patent analysis, technical analysis, market analysis, legal analysis, third-party testing, etc., and seek expert advice to accurately and quickly respond to litigation procedures. .