A patent war between the air-conditioning companies focusing on Gree and the United States is in full swing, running through the entire 2018 air-conditioning sales season.
Regarding whether the advertising word is 'first creation', whether it is 'hotness', the two air-conditioning giants of Gree and the United States have once again become 'in the court'. Recently, the case was opened and the two sides debated in court for nearly three hours, but still Disagree with the court mediation. The court announced that it will pronounce the case on the day of the case.
For this lawsuit, a few days ago, Midea Group insiders accepted an interview with the Securities Daily reporter: 'The case is still in the process of litigation, we respect the court's judgment.'
Gree Electric related people said that the company will 'actively respond' to relevant litigation cases, will not give up its legal rights, will fight for the end.
According to statistics, in recent years, there have been dozens of lawsuits between the United States and Gree. In the past 20 years of parallelization of home appliances, the United States and Gree have been competing constantly. In the past two years, the two sides have become more intensive. Last year, the number of lawsuits between Gree and the United States exceeded 12, and the cumulative amount of claims was nearly 100 million yuan.
In fact, technological disputes and patent disputes have occurred among many home appliance companies. Gree and the United States, Sharp and Hisense, Gree and Oaks have all caught each other and have had a technical patent tug-of-war.
The two majors are determined not to compromise
Delay in the verdict
The United States and Gree are again because of the 6-character slogan 'to the bar'. Directly pointing to Gree infringement, the United States a complaint filed Gree to the court. The lawsuit is currently underway, the court has not officially pronounced.
For the time of the verdict, the US insider said: 'We have not received the notice, we are waiting for the court's decision.'
In fact, as early as last year, Midea sued Gree in Foshan, Guangdong, the headquarters of the company. However, the case was officially opened at the end of June this year, and there is no result yet. At present, both parties are waiting for the judgment of the court.
In the case, the US side pointed out that Gree used his own slogan that was heavily advertised to make false propaganda on his goods that was inconsistent with the actual content. Gree responded that 'the company itself has long been competitive.'
It is worth mentioning that the two sides had a tough attitude in the court. In the trial, the plaintiff, the United States, brought two Gree air conditioners to the court and asked to test the Gree air-conditioner on the spot. It was stopped by Gree. To this end, the judge also announced that he had adjourned for ten minutes. Finally, it was decided to be tested by a professional organization. Now the results of the case are highly regarded by the industry. However, the time for the judgment is not yet clear.
Shen Meng, executive director of Shannon Capital, believes: 'The case is not a general commercial competition dispute, involving technical patent infringement, evaluation and proof is relatively complicated. Looking back at the previous patent litigation cases in the home appliance industry, most of them lasted longer, and the settlement time existed. Uncertainty. '
It is understood that there is still a large number of patent litigation disputes between Gree and the United States, which has not yet been settled. It has been rumored that the two have reached a settlement in related litigation. However, in an interview with the Securities Daily reporter, Gree The message was denied.
Regarding the statement that 'the two parties have settled privately on litigation disputes', Gree related persons said: 'No heard.' It also said: 'The company will not give up its legal rights.'
Greemei's duopoly has been in the air-conditioning industry for more than 10 years, and the patent war between them has never been broken. These patent litigations have concentrated on the sales season of air conditioners, making the air-conditioning cold war more interesting.
The "Securities Daily" reporter was informed that in the past two years, Gree and the United States have surpassed 15 patent reciprocal cases.
Industry competition has quietly changed
Enterprises have more competition means to take the lead
Not only Gree, Midea, but also the litigation battle between other air-conditioning giants has occurred frequently in recent years. The patent litigation battle between Hisense and Sharp lasted from last year to this year; in April this year, the Guangzhou Intellectual Property Court found that Oaks infringed Gree's air conditioner. Technical utility model patent, sentenced to compensate Gree for economic losses of 40 million yuan.
Zhang Jianfeng, deputy secretary-general of the China Household Electrical Appliances Business Association, said: 'In recent years, Gree, Midea, Oaks, Hisense have been fighting against each other. These patent battles are mainly the competition of air-conditioning enterprises around product functions, showing the protection of intellectual property rights of mainstream enterprises. Consciousness is gradually improving, and market competition is becoming more intense.'
In his view, the overcapacity of the entire air-conditioning industry and increased competition are the background of the frequent occurrence of patent warfare. 'The development of the air-conditioning industry has experienced a process from unsatisfactory capacity to severe overcapacity in recent years. Meanwhile, the air-conditioning market The competition has also shifted from the price war in the past few years to the scale war. Enterprises pay more attention to the competition for the discourse rights and patents in the industry.
According to statistics, the cumulative sales volume of China's air-conditioning industry in the 2018 cold year (as of the end of July this year) has exceeded 90 million units, once again hitting a record high, but the market growth rate has slowed significantly compared to the 2017 cold year, and the domestic market sales growth rate is also From 65.8% to 21.1%.
'The future competition situation of air-conditioning enterprises will be more severe, and will still mainly compete for the right to speak in the industry. The dispute over the right to speak of enterprises will often be accompanied by price wars, patent wars, and channel wars. With the right to speak, they are mixed with each other. The compound competition of competitive means will be the main competition mode of air-conditioning mainstream enterprises in the future. ' Zhang Jianfeng told reporters.
Liang Zhenpeng, an industrial economic observer, believes: 'The war between air-conditioning companies has not stayed in the war of words, but has been upgraded to the product patent technology level. This also shows that the internal competition and mode of the industry are quietly changing. With China's consumer demand The transformation and competition in the field of home appliances is becoming increasingly fierce. The competition in the air-conditioning field has also begun to shift from extensive price wars to technical patent wars.