Why do many domestic mobile phone manufacturers not maintain the system, resulting in many

Although the monopoly case of Qualcomm in China, which affects the domestic mobile phone industry, is coming to an end, a patent civil war between domestic mobile phone manufacturers may just begin. 165438+1October 12, an insider familiar with the monopoly case in China, Qualcomm, revealed that the NDRC is expected to impose the final punishment on Qualcomm at the end of this month. In addition to the fine and the reduction of patent license fees, the cancellation of the "anti-license agreement" promoted by Qualcomm is also one of them. "Anti-authorization Agreement" is an unfair contract that Qualcomm forced mobile phone manufacturers to sign by taking advantage of its patent. According to this agreement, mobile phone companies that use Qualcomm chips must license their patents to Qualcomm, and may not charge any customers in Qualcomm patent fees. There is such an agreement officially. While Apple, Samsung and other manufacturers are fighting patent lawsuits in the international market, there are few similar lawsuits in China. However, with the cancellation of this agreement, the possibility of domestic mobile phone manufacturers using patents as competitive weapons will greatly increase. Qualcomm's Umbrella Disappeared Last year 65438+February 65438+March, the National Development and Reform Commission launched an anti-monopoly investigation in Qualcomm. In July this year, it was clear that the investigation in Qualcomm included seven items, including "taking the whole machine as the basis for calculating the license fee". With the gradual deepening of the investigation, Qualcomm promised to rectify some problems and asked the National Development and Reform Commission to suspend its antitrust investigation. Two months ago, officials from the National Development and Reform Commission revealed that the "Qualcomm Anti-monopoly Case" had entered the final punishment stage, but the punishment decision had not yet been made. According to an insider familiar with the monopoly case in China, Qualcomm, the NDRC is expected to impose a final penalty on Qualcomm at the end of this month, which may include reducing patent fees, fines and canceling the "anti-licensing agreement". Among these possible penalties, canceling the "anti-authorization agreement" may become a watershed in the patent lawsuit in the domestic mobile phone market. Previously, according to Qualcomm's "anti-authorization agreement", ZTE, Huawei, Lenovo and other mobile phone companies using Qualcomm chips had to license their patents to Qualcomm, and were not allowed to collect patent fees from customers in Qualcomm. In fact, during the investigation of the Qualcomm case, domestic mobile phone manufacturers have started to have "friction" on the patent issue. According to media reports, ZTE Mobile has sent a lawyer's letter to manufacturers in the same industry a few days ago, hoping to negotiate the patent licensing fee. According to various sources, in addition to ZTE, Huawei, Coolpad and other manufacturers have sent lawyers' letters about patents to other manufacturers. A patent contest may be brewing among domestic mobile phone manufacturers. Or set off a patent civil war, the data of patent search and analysis company PatSnap shows that the number of patents of domestic mobile phone manufacturers is polarized. By the end of 20 14, 1 1, Huawei has obtained nearly 30,000 patents, while Meizu has only more than 80. On the whole, ZTE, Huawei and Lenovo were established much longer than other domestic mobile phone brands such as Xiaomi and Meizu, and they also occupied a great advantage in the amount of patent data. Therefore, after the cancellation of Qualcomm's umbrella, ZTE, Lenovo, Huawei and other enterprises holding a large number of mobile phone patents have the conditions to use patents as competitive weapons. At present, the patent protection of ZTE and Huawei's mobile phones is mainly technical inventions, while Lenovo's patent protection of inventions, utility models and designs is equivalent. Perhaps aware of the importance of patents, many late mobile phone brands are strengthening the accumulation of patents from design and other aspects. According to PatSnap's data, Xiaomi, as a rookie in the industry, is trying to strengthen the patent layout by strengthening patents that are easy to take effect, such as designs and utility models. At present, the number of design patents of Xiaomi Company has surpassed that of Coolpad and Meizu mobile phone brands. Although domestic mobile phone manufacturers are struggling in the domestic market competition, there are few manufacturers who really take up patents as weapons of attack and defense except for a series of "confrontation" in price and marketing propaganda. However, the recent letters from patent lawyers have revealed a trace of patent civil war. Although some mobile phone manufacturers are reluctant to express their opinions on whether to carry out patent licensing business when asked by the media, they almost unanimously emphasize that patent innovation should be respected and protected. Wang Yanhui, Secretary-General of China Mobile Phone Alliance, told the media that the patent war between domestic mobile phone manufacturers will not be imminent. "It's not that serious. It's just a test of the company sending a lawyer's letter. Because there is too little compensation for patent infringement in China, it is of little significance to sue. "Wang Yang, research director of iSuppli China, a market research company, also believes that the domestic environment is not suitable for patent litigation, and domestic mobile phone manufacturers should keep a tacit understanding in the short term and will not engage in direct patent confrontation. Patents have become shortcomings in expanding overseas markets. In the past two years, mobile phone manufacturers such as Apple, Samsung and HTC have suppressed each other in the global market through patent wars. Because the main business of domestic mobile phone manufacturers is mostly in China, it has not been implicated. However, with the saturation of the domestic mobile phone market, domestic mobile phone manufacturers may fall into a very dangerous situation when they enter overseas markets without patents. Industry insiders predict that if there is not enough patent pool for defense or cross-licensing, mobile phone companies will have to prepare 20%-25% of their revenue as the cost of patent licensing. This cost means that even if domestic mobile phone manufacturers can enter overseas markets, it is difficult to make a profit. Yang, CEO of Lenovo Group, recently said, "Patent is a very important aspect, especially for mature markets such as North America, Western Europe and Japan. If there is no patent, you are likely to be unable to move. "In order to enter these markets, Lenovo Group spent hundreds of millions of dollars to purchase patent licenses. After acquiring Motorola Mobility and obtaining free patent licenses from Google, it formally proposed to enter mature markets such as North America. At present, mobile phone manufacturers such as Xiaomi and Gionee also sell mobile phones in emerging markets such as India, Indonesia, Russia and Southeast Asia, but few are as rich as Lenovo. Jia Jun, chief patent analyst of PATSNAP, told the media: When these manufacturers enter overseas markets, they first face emerging market countries such as India, Indonesia and Russia. One of the important reasons is that the protection of intellectual property rights in these countries is far less mature than that in North America and Europe, and once enterprises want to enter markets such as the United States, the importance of patents immediately becomes prominent. In the past few months, the domestic mobile phone market shipments slowed down significantly, and the shipments in the last two months also showed negative growth. For domestic mobile phone manufacturers, I am afraid that entering overseas markets can also maintain substantial growth. However, once the business at home and abroad is large enough, patent lawsuits may come to you automatically. From the frequent patent wars of international mobile phone giants, it is not difficult to find that patents have become an indispensable and powerful weapon in the competition of mobile phone manufacturers. Wang Yanhui of Mobile Phone Alliance said: Compared with mobile phone manufacturers in Europe, America and other countries and regions, there is still a big gap in the patent reserves of domestic enterprises. Domestic mobile phone manufacturers can't get the core technology patents in a short time, so they can consider starting from the peripheral patents, gradually improve the patent reserve and enhance their core competitiveness. (Text/SinaTech) More 0