Hereinafter referred to as China Lottery) and other three related patent alliances.
Dai Dejian, director of the Intellectual Property Department of the Legal Department of Sichuan Changhong, said in an interview with China Intellectual Property News that Sichuan Changhong joined the Digital Audio and Video Coding and Decoding Technology Standards Industry Alliance in 2004 and the China Lottery in 2007, all of which were eager to upgrade their technical level and gain a stronger voice through integration into the alliance. But a few years later, the two alliances played different roles: by participating in the formulation and industrialization of the industrial alliance standard of digital audio and video coding and decoding technology, it greatly promoted the innovation and technology accumulation of Sichuan Changhong; However, due to many factors, such as the lack of core technology in domestic color TV industry, China Color Federation is still working towards the established goal.
Dai Dejian's idea also represents the voice of many other enterprises that have joined the patent alliance. On the one hand, joining the alliance is beneficial for enterprises to "fight together", overcome patent barriers, reduce cross-licensing costs and promote scientific and technological innovation; On the other hand, due to the lack of technology or system, there is still a big gap between domestic patent alliances and mature patent alliances in developed countries.
Then, how far is the patent alliance carrying the enthusiasm of national enterprises from the ideal state? Can it really light up the future for China enterprises in the cruel "jungle competition"?
condition
The distance between dream and reality
Expert: The core technology is insufficient, and some alliances are still in the primary stage.
What patent alliances are there in China? What are the living conditions of these patent alliances? Where is the way out? The solution of these problems will undoubtedly have an important impact on the survival and development of China Patent Union.
During the interview, a report by the research group of the Patent Reexamination Board of the State Intellectual Property Office on the status of patent pools in China (hereinafter referred to as the report of the research group) caught the attention of reporters. After analyzing a number of patent alliances, the report reveals a fact that the industry may not be willing to accept-due to the lack of core patent technology and other reasons, most domestic patent alliances are in the initial stage of trial and exploration.
After the painful experience of DVD industry, some industries that were hit by the patent pool earlier have turned their attention to establishing industrial patent alliances or industrial alliances with patent alliance characteristics. According to the report of the research group and our reporter's incomplete statistics, most of the influential patent alliances established in China are concentrated in the information technology field, including the digital audio and video coding and decoding technology standard industry alliance, Blink, China lottery alliance, the third generation wireless communication technology standard time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA) industry alliance, wireless LAN security mandatory standard (WAPI), China Blu-ray high-definition disc standard (CBHD), China national standard intellectual property alliance for terrestrial digital TV transmission, and so on. In addition, some patent alliances have emerged in the traditional manufacturing field, including hollow floor patent alliance, Shunde electric pressure cooker patent alliance, Foshan ceramic patent alliance, China floor patent alliance and so on.
So, what are the living conditions of these alliances? Perhaps the growth experience of China lottery can be seen. In March 2007, TCL, Changhong, Konka, Skyworth, Hisense, Xoceco, Haier, Shanghai Radio and Television Information Industry Co., Ltd., Shinco, Amoi and other domestic color TV manufacturers 10 registered and established the China Color Federation in Shenzhen, which was responsible for the intellectual property negotiations between the member enterprises and the American digital TV patentees.
"Because almost all China color TV enterprises are not members of the American Advanced Standards Committee (ATSC), the patents that can be exchanged and offset with American patentees are quite limited. Even important patents that can be exchanged are completely put into the lottery, and there is no complete negotiation between manufacturers. This is the situation faced by the China Lottery at the beginning of its establishment. " An industry insider told reporters.
20 10,101On October 22nd, China Lottery signed a five-year intellectual property cooperation agreement with French color TV company Thomson. At that time, some experts believed that "China Lottery finally got rid of the image of inaction in the past three years and played the role of a licensing intermediary" and "only helped China color TV enterprises complete a group purchase action in the negotiations with Thomson." However, more experts have seen the positive side. They think that in order to reject the patentee's "wild price", China Lottery has enhanced the self-confidence of China color TV enterprises and played a positive role in the development of China enterprises.
"The patent alliance formed based on standards organizations is a close combination of patent alliances. In addition, there are many industrial alliances in China that also include cooperation in intellectual property rights, but the essence of these alliances is mostly price alliance, or a means for a single enterprise to exclude competition. Although it is also a patent alliance in a broad sense, its vitality is generally not strong, which is called a non-tight patent alliance. " Zhang Ping, a professor at Peking University Law School, pointed out in an interview.
The patent alliance of hollow floor is one of the above-mentioned non-tight patent alliances, which reserves more than 3,000 patents related to the construction industry, most of which are personal patents owned by the founder of the alliance, Roy Chiu. An expert who has studied related technologies for many years told this reporter that Qiu owns his own Changsha Giant Star Lightweight Building Materials Co., Ltd. and has filed many infringement lawsuits with his partners all over the country, aiming at eliminating the market and improving the market share of enterprises. It belongs to an "offensive" patent alliance that actively initiates infringement litigation.
However, "although the number of patents is huge, it does not mean that there are a lot of core technologies."
Different from hollow floor patent alliance, the establishment of electric pressure cooker patent alliance is mainly based on the patent technology cooperation of enterprises. The Alliance was established in Shunde District, Foshan City, Guangdong Province in June 2006. Known as the first patent alliance in China household appliances industry. Its core patent is the "U-shaped structure" patent obtained by Guangdong Midea Group from Wang Yongguang, a retired senior engineer of Chinese Academy of Sciences. At that time, three companies were facing lawsuits for allegedly infringing American patents. Therefore, under the mediation of relevant departments, enterprises from all sides weighed the advantages and disadvantages and decided to form an alliance. At present, there are 7 member enterprises, and the number of patents has risen to 243, including 6 invention patents and 140 utility model patents.
However, according to the analysis of experts in the industry, up to now, the core invention patents of the electric pressure cooker patent alliance-patent number ZL91KLOC-0/00026.7 and part of the claims of the invention name "fully sealed fully automatic multifunctional rice cooker" have expired, and the patent validity period will soon expire on 201KLOC-0/.
Reasons and reasons
Why is the alliance "lethal" not strong?
Expert: We should pursue technology alliance instead of price alliance and move towards internationalization.
"The continuous emergence of patent alliances in China is also an inevitable development." When analyzing the phenomenon of a large number of patent alliances in China, Zhang Ping told reporters that due to the increasingly fine division of labor, the industrial chain is getting longer and longer, and there are many manufacturers in an industry, the technical correlation between upstream and downstream enterprises is getting higher and higher. A product involves more and more patents, forming a "patent jungle". Patent alliance is conducive to eliminating obstacles of patent cross-licensing, promoting the popularization and application of technology, and reducing patent disputes and litigation costs. In addition, the traditional patent licensing is that users request licenses from different patentees, while the patent alliance can centralize the patented technology of a certain industry for one-stop licensing, which can also greatly reduce transaction costs.
Zhang Ping pointed out that patent alliance is not a scourge. It has a history of 100 years in developed countries. In practice, it is often led by a company or an industrial alliance, and then the necessary patents in the standard are collected to build an alliance. Standard makers control standards and even monopolize industries through patent alliances. In a sense, it is the technical standards that gave birth to the patent alliance.
In view of the problems existing in domestic patent alliances at present, Zhang Ping suggested that we can learn from the management mode of digital audio and video coding and decoding technology standard industry alliance: "Digital audio and video coding and decoding technology standard industry alliance is a well-operated domestic patent alliance at present, which is established with reference to the policies of foreign advanced standards organizations, and has certain innovation and can be a model for establishing patent alliances. The establishment, licensing and management mode of digital audio and video codec technology standard industry alliance is relatively mature, and many of its technologies have become national standards. "
Niu Zhaohui, deputy director of the Patent Pool Management Center of the Digital Audio and Video Coding Technology Standards Industry Alliance, said in an interview with this reporter that the Digital Audio and Video Coding Technology Standards Industry Alliance is the second generation source coding standard with independent intellectual property rights in China, and the foreign MPEG-2 standard widely adopted at present is the first generation. In the past, domestic users who used the MPEG-2 standard had to pay the MPEG-2 organization a patent fee of $2.5 for each codec they made, and the patent pool management organization of the digital audio and video codec technology standard industry alliance created a model that was talked about by the industry-if users replaced the MPEG-2 standard with the digital audio and video codec technology standard industry alliance standard, Each terminal only needs to pay 1 yuan to the digital audio and video coding and decoding technology standard industry alliance organization, which greatly reduces the cost of users, is conducive to the promotion of digital audio and video coding and decoding technology standard industry alliance standards and the application of new technologies, and realizes a win-win situation; The H.264 standard, which is also the second generation source standard, has high implementation complexity, which is not as simple and efficient as the standard of digital audio and video coding and decoding technology industry alliance, but the performance of the two standards is equivalent.
"At present, the main application fields of digital audio and video coding and decoding technology standards industry alliance standards include terrestrial digital TV compression, interactive Internet TV (IPTV), and China's Blu-ray HD disc technology. The upcoming Guangzhou Asian Games will adopt the coding technology of digital audio and video coding and decoding technology standard industry alliance, and the alliance is also carrying out a number of cooperation with China Mobile in the 3G field. " Niu is confident that the digital audio and video coding and decoding technology standard industry alliance will occupy the market.
Going abroad is a broader prospect for domestic patent alliances. In view of the internationalization pace of the digital audio and video coding and decoding technology standards industry alliance, Niu Zhaohui introduced that the digital audio and video coding and decoding technology standards industry alliance has participated in a number of international standards organizations, including the Moving Picture Expert Group (MPEG), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and the American Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Through technical advantages and active mediation, the alliance has become a part of these international standards.
It is recognized by many experts that industrial alliance should pursue technology alliance instead of price alliance. Lin, vice chairman of China Electronic Audio Association, pointed out that the alliances of foreign home appliance enterprises, such as 6C alliance (including Hitachi, Panasonic, Toshiba, JVC, mitsubishi electric and time warner Inc.), alliance (including Sony, Pioneer and Philips), 1C (Thomson), Dolby and MPEG-LA, have a long life span, and every action of the alliance is quite lethal. But until today, the world's most common technology alliance has not formed a climate in China.
export
The rise of the alliance still needs to "stand still"
Expert: The government should give more guidance and try to avoid administrative intervention.
"The Alliance has always been committed to encouraging independent innovation and organizing joint research and development of enterprises, hoping to re-establish new core technologies of electric pressure cookers. The alliance custodian will update the patent pool every quarter, clean up expired patents and put new patents into the patent pool. " Regarding the expiration of the core patent of electric pressure cooker, Zou Yongqiang, secretary-general of Shunde Intellectual Property Association of Foshan City, Guangdong Province, who contributed to the establishment of the alliance, told this reporter that there is a perfect innovation incentive and reward mechanism within the electric pressure cooker alliance, which requires alliance members to have a certain number of new patents every year.
According to the reporter's understanding, in order to broaden the horizons of enterprises, in 2008, the electric pressure cooker alliance organized members to visit and inspect well-known enterprises such as Toyota and TCL, and carried out a "preliminary study on patent pools at home and abroad"; Cooperate with scientific research institutions to formulate the technical roadmap of electric pressure cookers; In addition, we are actively promoting the process of "technology patenting, patent standardization and standard monopoly". In 2009, the standard set by the electric pressure cooker alliance rose to the Guangdong provincial standard, and we are actively participating in the formulation of the national standard for electric pressure cookers.
Implementing standard strategy through alliance is a higher-level pursuit of enterprises. But whether the wish can be realized depends on many factors, including the power game between countries. The WAPI internationalization road independently formulated by China is full of twists and turns.
In August, 20001year, the Ministry of information industry established the China broadband wireless IP standard working group;
In May, 2003, China wireless LAN security mandatory standard was issued, and it is planned to be implemented by the end of 2003. However, multinational companies such as Intel requested to postpone the implementation on the grounds of insufficient preparation time. In 2005, China and the United States fought fiercely in the Geneva mediation of the International Organization for Standards, and the original mandatory standards were postponed. The game of mandatory standards for wireless LAN security between China and the United States has aroused widespread concern. Until June 2009, in ISO/IEC
At the plenary meeting of JTC 1/SC6 held in Tokyo, Japan, more than 10 participating countries, including the United States, Britain and France, unanimously agreed to promote the mandatory WLAN security standard as an international standard in the form of an independent text.
Corresponding to the situation that some patent alliances are advancing despite difficulties in international competition, many industries that have not yet formed patent alliances are eager to try. Liu, head of the intellectual property department of Chongqing Longxin Group Co., Ltd., told this reporter that at present, the number of patent applications and core patents of the company are in the forefront of the motorcycle industry, and enterprises are also studying how to adjust their previous defense strategies, integrate the strength of other enterprises through industrial alliances to combat infringement, and at the same time promote industrial innovation and prevent repeated research and development. In this regard, relevant departments in Chongqing also expressed their support and are actively investigating and supporting relevant policies to establish industrial alliances.
"Looking at the existing patent alliances in China, almost all of them are inextricably linked with the support of relevant government departments. But until now, how much role the government should play in the establishment and growth of patent alliances and how to play its role is an important topic that needs to be discussed. " An industry insider told reporters.
Zhao Tianwu, director of the Electronic Intellectual Property Consulting Service Center of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said in an interview with this reporter that many departments of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology are cooperative relations with enterprises and alliances, rather than regulatory roles, which is also a model conducive to the development of patent alliances.
Attracted by monopoly interests, different multinational companies and even enterprises in competition form patent alliances, trying to bring their patented technologies into the standard, which is also an important reason why patent alliances are questioned. Government support can promote alliances. Will alliance promote monopoly? In this regard, Zhao Tianwu believes that the combination of intellectual property rights and standards is not contradictory. For enterprises, the technology integration of high-tech industries is very high at present, and enterprises cannot close themselves. Joining the patent alliance organization is conducive to the industrial application of new technologies and the promotion of standards. This is a game between all parties. Compared with developed countries, China's patent alliance is still in the stage of exploration and improvement, and the competitiveness of enterprises is gradually increasing. He also believes that anti-monopoly review is something that standards organizations and patent unions need to pay special attention to. Policy measures should be taken to avoid monopoly risks, and relevant laws and regulations and implementation rules should be studied.
Regarding the role of the government in the development of patent pool, the research group of "Research on the Status of Patent Pool in China" in China National Intellectual Property Administration believes that the government should increase its support for key industries with national economic development and industrial structure adjustment, key industries and regions with active technological innovation, and industries facing the danger of transnational patent pool attack, provide policy inclination and environmental protection, build patent guidance for key industrial clusters, and integrate industrial structure. In addition, efforts should be made to improve the relevant system construction of patent pool, guide the alliance to gradually improve the licensing system, necessary patent evaluation system, patent renewal mechanism and dispute settlement mechanism, establish necessary anti-monopoly review and monopoly early warning mechanism, and improve the core competitiveness of patent alliance.
In this regard, Zhang Ping also agreed. She believes that at present, most patent alliances in China are in the primary stage. "The government should pay attention to system construction and guidance, and should try to avoid administrative intervention in the market."
data link
Patent alliance, or patent.
Pool can also be translated into patent pool, patent pool, centralized patent management and joint patent authorization. Initial patent alliance is a joint agreement reached by two or more patent owners, through which one or more patents are licensed to another party or a third party. Later, it developed into a collection of intellectual property rights (patents) formed by putting "a number of intellectual property rights, mainly patents, which are the subject of cross-licensing" into a package of licenses. Members of the patent alliance can use all the patents in the alliance to engage in research and commercial activities without paying license fees to each other; Enterprises outside the alliance can use all the patents in the alliance by paying royalties, without seeking a separate license from a single patentee for each patent.
Patent alliance management institutions mainly include the following categories: 1. Specialized patent alliance management organization. For example, the most famous MEPG patent management company manages 9 patent alliance authorization projects in 57 countries. Among them, MPEG-2 video includes more than 800 patented technologies owned by 25 companies including General Electric, Philips, Sony, Panasonic and Samsung. MPEG manages a number of patent consortia, which have nothing to do with standards organizations and are not affiliated with any patentee. 2. The patent alliance shall set up an independent entity specially responsible for the management of the patent alliance, and the members of the alliance shall sign a patent licensing agreement with the independent entity, which shall be responsible for the licensing of foreign patents. 3. The Patent Alliance is not an independent organization, but entrusts some of its members to be responsible for the management of patent rights on behalf of the Patent Alliance. 4. Other management organizations, such as patent offices and law firms, have different specific responsibilities, which are often agreed by both parties through contracts.