LED technology and patents can not be less

For a Chinese LED lighting company, the patent is like a time bomb, which can cause catastrophic damage to the company. With the passage of time and the development of the market, the global LED patent barrier slowly emerged loose. On the one hand, early patented LED technology has reached or is about to reach the protection period. On the other hand, Chinese LED lighting companies have emerged in technology research and development and patent strategies.

Patent Strategy to Protect Technology R&D

Once after the bankruptcy of Shenzhen Everbright, Wu Zhengyu, General Manager of Everlight Lighting wrote on Weibo: “Today May 廿6. The Gregorian Calendar on July 4th, Thursday. There were 2 LED bankruptcies yesterday and Shenzhen Shenzhen” billions. Light "bankruptcy, this Shanzhai billion light from the founding of thinking about fraudulent, bankruptcy is justified, save the billions of light to clean it up, and good. Second, Zhongshan Xiongji break. Once again proved: the bottom line of the low price No future is right. Those dealers who love low prices should take warnings, and perhaps the next one should be you. It is advisable to be sustainable: not to: 贱." The two failures reflected the microcosm of the impetuous industry and lack of innovation. In this way, the homogeneity of the industry's environmental performance in the product is serious. Enterprises face customers and lose bargaining power. They can only grab orders through low-price competition.

The patent strategy is a tool to ensure that companies can continue to gain competitive advantage. Companies that have invested in and prepared for patents in the early days have now experienced the protection that patents bring to companies and their competitiveness.

The patent strategy is best able to lead the company's R&D planning strategy. Prior to the establishment of the company's technology, it began to conduct patent searches for patents, discover patent barriers, avoid patent traps, and avoid using other people’s patent rights to guide the development of technology through patent planning. Planning direction.

Based on the fundamental start of the Chinese LED enterprises patent warfare

The LED patents owned by China can be ranked in the top 5 in the world in terms of quantity. The number of patents in mainland China is located behind the United States and Japan, roughly equivalent to Germany and China Taiwan, and a large proportion of these are utility model patents. More than 70% of the world's LED application products are processed and manufactured in China. This is the main weight China has in the “LED Patent Warfare”.

Prior to 2006, the main constituents of LED invention patent applicants in mainland China were the undertaking units and implementation units of the National 863 Program and other projects. After 2006, the number of patent applications corresponding to LED invention patent applicants has increased rapidly. With the development of the market, the technical strength and patent protection awareness of Chinese LED companies have been significantly strengthened, and they have gradually learned how to increase wealth and avoid risks through patent applications.

According to relevant data, at present, more than half of the global LED technology and patents are controlled by large international companies. Japan's Nichia Chemical, Toyota Synthetic, the United States CREE, Europe Philips, European OSRAM and other foreign companies, hold a lot of patents in their hands, covering the entire industry chain including raw materials, equipment, packaging and applications. In contrast, patent applications in China's LED industry are mainly concentrated in the middle and downstream areas of the industry, in which the patent applications for the middle and lower packaging applications account for more than 60% of the total number of applications. Utility model patent applications and design patent applications are The main and the invention patent application accounted for relatively low. In particular, key patents concerning the long-term development of the industry still lack core patents. Obviously, the patent monopoly of foreign industry giants has seriously hampered the development of China's LED industry.

According to relevant IP experts at Peking University, LED companies in China need to adjust their strategies. They can purchase patents, but they must have their own brands. At the same time, domestic companies must improve their own strengths and rely on scientific research institutes and higher education institutions to develop their own patents. Talents take the path of independent innovation and break through foreign patent barriers. Only focusing on R&D, owning independent intellectual property rights, and improving product quality can make China's LED industry get rid of this embarrassing situation subject to human beings.