South Korean industry sources said that overall, South Korea's shipbuilding technology is undoubtedly the highest in the world, but it is too early for South Korean shipbuilding enterprises to feel completely at ease, because China is catching up with South Korea's technology quickly. Liu Chengyuan, a patent agent of Korea Intimate Patent Law Firm, who was in charge of Samsung Heavy Industry LNG ship patent application and other related businesses, pointed out that from the new ship orders received this year, China shipbuilding enterprises have the ability to suppress Korean shipbuilding enterprises in a short time, while the total number of patent applications of China shipbuilding enterprises is also growing at a high speed, and their technical competitiveness is constantly improving, which makes it increasingly difficult for Korean shipbuilding enterprises to compete in the global market. In this situation, if South Korea does not actively respond, it will be overtaken by China in a short time. He said that the Korean shipbuilding industry must formulate corresponding patent development plans to help Korean shipbuilding enterprises compete with other shipbuilding enterprises in the world, including China.
Seize the innovative highland! In 2008, 20 13, the number of patents of Korean shipping enterprises exploded.
"Patents represent the core technology of enterprises, and the quality and quantity of patents directly reflect the core competitiveness of enterprises." Liu Chengyuan pointed out: "Patents are weapons. Nokia, once a dinosaur in the field of mobile communication, is a typical example. Patent is one of the decisive reasons leading to the collapse of enterprises and the failure of technical competition due to huge compensation in the industry. It is no exaggeration to say that the survival of large enterprises in the global competitive market depends on patents. "
Since the outbreak of the international financial crisis in 2008, the global shipbuilding market has entered a period of deep adjustment. However, South Korea's shipbuilding industry has not diminished its efforts to stimulate enterprises' enthusiasm for innovation, strengthen technical reserves and seize market share, and the number of patents of the three major shipbuilding enterprises in South Korea has exploded.
In 2009, Hyundai Heavy Industry Group applied for 694 patents, 6 for Daewoo Shipbuilding and 86 for Samsung Heavy Industry. From the second year, that is, 20 10, the patent applications of the three major shipbuilding enterprises in Korea gradually increased, reaching the peak in 20 12 and 20 13. For example, in 20 12, the patent applications of Hyundai Heavy Industry Group, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Samsung Heavy Industry reached 3,484, 1684 and 2,338 respectively. This has also effectively promoted the technological innovation of Korean shipbuilding industry and the upgrading of marine products, and enhanced the market competitiveness of core products.
It is worth mentioning that in the field of marine engineering, Korean shipbuilding enterprises have strong patent mining and layout capabilities. Since 2008, when the international oil price hit a record high, the orders for offshore equipment of Korean shipbuilding enterprises have been booming, and the number of patent applications has gradually increased. Among them, Daewoo Shipbuilding Ocean and Samsung Heavy Industries accounted for 15% and 13% respectively.
In addition, in the field of marine parts, South Korea has excellent marine engine manufacturers such as Hyundai Heavy Industries and HSD Engine Company (formerly Hanjin Heavy Industries Engine), which independently develop HiMSEN engines, and has strong research and development capabilities for marine parts. At present, the share of Korean enterprises in the global marine engine market has reached more than 50%. South Korean shipbuilding enterprises and marine supporting enterprises have also mastered some core technologies of LNG ships, drilling ships, VLCC and other high value-added ships. It is reported that Daewoo Shipbuilding Ocean and Samsung Heavy Industries' patented technologies for ships account for 39% and 54% respectively, and have been able to complete the independent construction of the whole ship at high speed.
Increase foreign layout! Leading the global LNG carrier market
Although the number of patent applications of Korean shipbuilding enterprises has decreased after 20 13, the distribution of patents abroad has obviously increased, especially in rival countries including China, making full use of intellectual property rights to enhance their influence in the international market.
Taking LNG carriers as an example, only in the field of LNG storage tank evaporation gas treatment and related supporting equipment, the layout of the three major Korean shipbuilding enterprises in other countries in the world has exceeded 1 1,000. This has also laid a solid foundation for Korean shipbuilding enterprises to establish a huge advantage in the LNG shipbuilding market and to "lead the way" for many years. In 20 18, the global LNG ship orders were 76, which was the highest in the history of shipbuilding industry in the world. South Korea accepted 67 orders, accounting for 88%. In 20 19, there were 63 global LNG ship orders, among which, Korean shipbuilding enterprises * * * undertook 5 1 ship, accounting for more than 80%. In this regard, Korean industry experts agree that this is because Korean shipbuilding enterprises have accumulated LNG ship-related construction technology even during the market downturn, thus forming a "de facto monopoly" in the global LNG ship construction market.
With the increasing number and importance of high-tech and high value-added ships such as LNG ships, the patent competition among the three major shipbuilding enterprises in Korea is also in full swing. From 20 14, the three major shipbuilding enterprises in Korea launched a fierce contest around the patents obtained before. After Daewoo Shipbuilding Ocean registered part of the re-liquefaction technology of LNG carrier as a patent, Hyundai Heavy Industry Group and Samsung Heavy Industry filed a trial lawsuit with the court that the patent registration was invalid.
This dispute ended in the victory of Hyundai Heavy Industry Group and Samsung Heavy Industry on 20 17 three years later. However, in this "civil war" for patents, there are no winners among the three major shipbuilding enterprises in South Korea. With the gradual decline of shipbuilding industry, the number of patent applications of the three companies has been greatly reduced. In 20 17, the number of patent applications filed by Samsung heavy industries was 1203, and it was reduced to 55 1 piece in 20 18. In the same period, the number of patent applications for Daewoo Shipbuilding Ocean also decreased from 575 to 238, both of which decreased by more than half.
In the field of marine engineering, with the sharp drop of 20 14 international oil price and its long-term persistence, major energy companies around the world began to postpone or cancel orders for marine equipment, and the patents related to marine equipment of Korean shipbuilding enterprises gradually dried up. Especially with the continuation of the era of low oil prices, in recent years, the patent applications of Korean shipbuilding enterprises in the field of marine engineering equipment are almost zero.
Liu Chengyuan said: "In the past, when the number of patent applications was large, the number of patent applications in the fields of ships and offshore engineering equipment accounted for almost half. However, due to the sluggish international oil price, almost all offshore equipment has been discontinued, and patent applications in related fields have hardly appeared at present. " He added: "Especially in the field of marine equipment, patents often appear in actual development, but with the interruption of a considerable number of projects, the total number of patents plummeted."
Keep abreast of the latest developments! Pay close attention to environmental protection and intelligent ship patent technology
Liu Chengyuan also stressed: "Like large enterprises, the patent management of small and medium-sized shipbuilding enterprises is also very important." He said that small and medium-sized shipbuilding enterprises must have specialized technology to deal with patent disputes. If small and medium-sized shipbuilding enterprises have an advantage in a certain field by virtue of their unique patents, they can flexibly use them as "weapons" in negotiations even if they have disputes with other large shipbuilding enterprises.
At present, shipbuilding enterprises are facing difficulties, but even so, patent layout should be made in advance. Liu Chengyuan said that in the future, autonomous navigation using unmanned driving, sensors and Internet of Things technology will become the main topic in the field of ships. Small and medium-sized shipbuilding enterprises should be very competitive if they can have characteristics in these aspects. He suggested that South Korean small and medium-sized shipbuilding enterprises and large shipbuilding enterprises set foot in related fields through cooperation or collaboration.
In recent years, China's shipbuilding and offshore equipment enterprises have made the three major Korean shipbuilding enterprises feel the crisis. Liu Chengyuan said that although South Korea's shipbuilding industry is obviously ahead of China in the patent field, it should not be ignored that the technological competitiveness of China's shipbuilding enterprises is constantly improving, and the competition difficulty of Korean shipbuilding enterprises in the global market is also increasing. In the field of merchant ships such as container ships, Chinese shipbuilding enterprises have obtained a large number of orders by virtue of their price advantages; In the field of high value-added ship types such as LNG carriers, there were almost no LNG carrier-related technologies in China before, and even if there were, most of them were not core technologies such as membranes, but patents related to equipment or parts, but the situation has changed greatly in recent years. He pointed out: "Of course, there is still a gap in the quality of ships built by China and South Korea, and the design capability is also insufficient. However, it must be admitted that in a short period of time, China has indeed achieved rapid development in LNG ship-related technologies. "
"Although the Korean shipbuilding industry is strong, there are still many areas that need to be improved in terms of patents. I'm worried about being overtaken by China at such a speed. Intellectual property plays a vital role in technological breakthrough and improving market competitiveness. In the' intellectual property war' of enterprises, patents will become a huge variable. " Liu Chengyuan said that in order to maintain the position of "leader", the three major Korean shipbuilding enterprises must actively respond, and the urgent task is to formulate corresponding patent development plans and continue to maintain their competitive advantages over other shipbuilding enterprises in the world, including China.