August 1, 2 1 Century Business Herald The reporter learned from relevant persons of Contemporary Anpu Technology Co., Ltd. that Contemporary Anpu Technology Co., Ltd. filed a new patent infringement lawsuit against Zhongchuang Singapore Airlines, with a claim amount of 65438+300 million yuan. At present, the Fujian Provincial High Court has accepted the case. At the same time, Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. has formally sued China Singapore Airlines for unfair competition.
Together with the five patent infringement cases filed in July last year, the claim amount reached 5180,000 yuan, and the claim amount involved in the patent cases of Contemporary Anpu Technology Co., Ltd. and Zhongchuang Singapore Airlines has exceeded 648 million yuan.
On July 22nd, some media reported that three of the five patent invalidation requests filed by Zhongchuang Singapore Airlines were voluntarily withdrawn, and the other two were all or partially valid.
Subsequently, Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. confirmed that Zhongchuang Singapore Airlines had previously filed five requests for invalidation of patents, all of which were unsuccessful, and the court had started the substantive trial stage. On the one hand, Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. respects the intellectual property rights of third parties and is willing to maintain communication and cooperation with industry participants on intellectual property licensing; On the other hand, it will also crack down on malicious infringement and maintain healthy competition in the market. Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. stressed.
On July 27, Zhongchuang Singapore Airlines issued a statement on the official WeChat account: At present, the lawsuit and the patents involved are still in the trial stage, and there is no effective judgment. Zhongchuang Singapore Airlines also pointed out in the statement that protecting intellectual property rights means protecting innovation, but under the banner of protecting innovation, using non-innovative patents covering previously known public technologies to maliciously suppress the same industry violates the legislative purpose of the Patent Law to promote scientific and technological progress and economic and social development.
The two sides are at daggers drawn. On the one hand, the industry leader Contemporary Anpu Technology Co., Ltd. made a strong statement to crack down on infringement, and on the other hand, the rising star Innovative Aviation insinuated that Contemporary Anpu Technology Co., Ltd. maliciously suppressed its peers. Whether it is right or wrong still needs to wait for the final judgment of the court.
However, the lawsuit between Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. and another competitor, Honeycomb Energy Company, came to an end five months later.
Previously, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. claimed 9 million yuan from Honeycomb Energy because nine employees jumped to Honeycomb Energy affiliated company in violation of the non-competition agreement. On July 18, Honeycomb Energy and Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. received a civil mediation letter from Ningde Intermediate People's Court, and Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. received a settlement of 5 million yuan from Honeycomb Energy.
New energy vehicles continue to be hot, and the power battery market is also growing rapidly. In addition to Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. and BYD, the second echelon battery enterprises in China are also rising rapidly.
Statistics released by SNEResearch, a Korean research institution, show that in the first half of this year, the power battery load of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. was 69GWh, accounting for 34% of the market share, ranking first in the world. After LG, BYD, Panasonic, SK, and Samsung, Zhongchuang Singapore Airlines ranked seventh (third among China enterprises), with a global deadweight of 9GWh, accounting for 4% of the market. Honeycomb Energy ranks 10th in the global installed capacity of 3GWh (sixth in China), with a market share of 1%.
The leading position of contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. is still obvious. However, due to the large scale base, among the six major enterprises in China, Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. has the lowest growth rate. In the first half of the year, the growth rate of the loading capacity of Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. was11%,and the growth rates of Zhongchuang Singapore Airlines and Honeycomb Energy were 163% and 152% respectively.
Patent war
The dispute between contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. and Zhongchuang Singapore Airlines can be traced back to July, 20021.
On 202 1 July 21day, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. formally sued AVIC lithium battery (predecessor of Zhongchuang Singapore Airlines) for patent infringement, covering all its products. Subsequently, the reporter of 2 1 Century Business Herald confirmed this matter to relevant persons of Contemporary Amp Technology Co., Ltd.
Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. said that the patents involved involved involved invention patents and utility model patents, and the batteries suspected of infringement had been carried on tens of thousands of vehicles. AVIC lithium battery claims that the products it provides to customers have undergone a comprehensive risk investigation by a professional intellectual property team to ensure that they do not infringe the intellectual property rights of others.
According to the disclosure, Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. sued AVIC Lithium for infringing five battery-related patents, involving technologies such as positive pole pieces, batteries and explosion-proof devices. Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. asked AVIC lithium battery to stop producing and selling the above infringing products, and claimed RMB 654.38+85 billion from it. At the same time, AVIC lithium battery was also required to pay 3 million yuan to bear the expenses incurred by Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. to stop the infringement.
Since then, AVIC Lithium submitted a request for invalidation of the patent involved to China National Intellectual Property Administration, and the two sides launched a lawsuit war around the patent issue that lasted for nearly 1 year.
In May this year, the reporter learned from Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. that due to the huge value of the products involved, Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. has applied to the court to increase the amount of compensation, requiring Zhongchuang Singapore Airlines to pay more than 565.438 billion yuan.
Zhongchuang Singapore Airlines, formerly known as AVIC lithium battery, was established in 2007. In recent two years, it has been known as the dark horse of power battery industry, and the loading capacity of 202 1 ranks third among enterprises in China. Zhongchuang Singapore Airlines officially submitted a prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in March this year, and the company has indicated that it plans to reach the production capacity target of 300GWh by 2025.
Zhongchuang Singapore Airlines entered the fast lane of development from 20 18. After Liu Jingyu became the chairman of Zhongchuang Singapore Airlines, Zhongchuang Singapore Airlines made two major business transformations: from commercial vehicles to passenger cars, and from lithium ferrous phosphate to lithium ternary.
The new style of play has achieved remarkable results. Zhongchuang Singapore Airlines quickly launched the 5-series ternary battery and gained many customers through the low-price strategy.
In order to make ternary batteries, AVIC lithium battery dug a lot of people from contemporary ampere technology co., ltd at that time. Some insiders told the reporter of 2 1 Century Business Herald that the technical transformation of Zhongchuang Singapore Airlines was very rapid, and it was very mature as soon as it was launched, and the price was low, which really caused some doubts at that time.
Then, why should Singapore Airlines provoke Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd.? In the industry's view, the fuse of patent disputes is mainly because Singapore Airlines stole the customers of contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd.
It should be pointed out that the main reason for creating Singapore Airlines to attract customers is the low price. According to the prospectus, from 20 19 to 20021year, the gross profit margin of Zhongchuang Singapore Airlines was 4.8%, 13.6% and 5.5% respectively, while the gross profit margin of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. was basically stable above 27% from mid-2020. From 20 19 to 202 1 year, the revenue of China Singapore Airlines soared from173,300 yuan to 68170,000 yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of 98.28%. However, it was not until 202 1 that it turned losses into profits for the first time. From 20 19 to 202 1, Chuangxin Airlines earned-65438+56 million yuan,-180 thousand yuan and1120 thousand yuan respectively.
Of course, the patent litigation with Contemporary Amperex Technology, Limited has added some uncertainty to Singapore Airlines' IPO in Hong Kong. Once convicted of infringement, Zhongchuang Singapore Airlines not only faces high compensation, but also faces the risk of product suspension.
Innovative Airlines mentioned in the prospectus that the infringement allegations of Contemporary Amp Technology Co., Ltd. are groundless and will not have a significant adverse impact on the company. At the same time, five patents held by Contemporary Amp Technology Co., Ltd., which applied to China National Intellectual Property Administration, are invalid, and the application is being reviewed by the latter.
scramble for talents
Compared with the tit-for-tat between Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. and Sino-Singapore Airlines, Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. sued Honeycomb Energy for unfair competition and finally ended up with 5 million yuan in settlement compensation.
Behind this incident is the battle for talents brought about by the great development of the power battery industry.
In February this year, Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. filed a lawsuit against Honeycomb Energy for unfair competition. According to several court judgments, from 20 18 to 20 19, nine employees of Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. joined Wuxi Tian Hong and Baoding Yixin respectively to provide services for Honeycomb Energy, a competitor of Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. The court found that Wuxi Tian Hong and Baoding Yixin were related parties of Honeycomb Energy.
Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. believes that these nine people have violated the Confidentiality and Non-competition Agreement (hereinafter referred to as the Non-competition Agreement) signed with them, so they are required to pay a penalty of 6,543,800 yuan.
During their tenure in Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd., these nine people served as chief engineers, manufacturing engineers and marketing specialists respectively, and the time of non-competition agreement ranged from two years to three months. It is revealed that five people who joined Baoding Yixin in Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. have a monthly salary of about 8,000-20,000 yuan and work hours ranging from three months to two years. After leaving the company, he will receive a monthly compensation of RMB 2,603.4-6,843 for non-competition with a term of 1-2 years.
In the end, the two sides reached a settlement. As for why there was a settlement, Honeycomb Energy said that both sides realized that reconciliation itself was the best way to meet the interests of both sides. On the premise of not harming harmony and protecting the interests of both parties, the two parties shall settle the matter through equal consultation, and the settlement amount shall be discussed and decided in the process of reconciliation between the two parties.
However, the cases of Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. and Honeycomb Energy Company also triggered a discussion about whether Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. abused the non-competition agreement.
In the battery industry, Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. is a good working platform, which is conducive to future development. However, the internal volume is very large, and the pressure of job competition is great. Many departments need 885 or even 886. But if you want to leave, you need to consider the non-competition agreement, otherwise you may need to change careers. On July 28th, an employee of Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. told the reporter of 2 1 Century Business Herald.
He told reporters that employees above Grade 7 in Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. need to sign a non-competition agreement, and most graduate students can reach Grade 7 when they join Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd., and they can't apply without signing. However, the non-competition agreement also explicitly mentions the non-competition agreement fee within a certain period of time.
According to the list of competitors in Contemporary Ampere Technology Limited Competition Agreement circulated on the Internet, major power battery companies at home and abroad are among them. Therefore, a former employee of Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. told reporters that a better place is to set up a joint venture company or a main engine factory in Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd.
With the rapid development of domestic power battery industry, the competition for talents is becoming increasingly fierce. A person from a second-tier battery company told 2 1 Century Business Herald that the company did have employees working in Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. Moreover, he also said that Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. started early and trained many people in the early stage. With the flow of talents, most battery factories have employees who have worked in Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd..
For the fast-rising second-tier battery enterprises, having the working background of Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. is undoubtedly an important plus item for them to dig corners. However, with the intensification of industry competition and the acceleration of talent flow, Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. has also adopted a non-competition agreement to prevent the disclosure of trade secrets.
However, there are also voices of doubt that the abuse of non-competition agreements restricts the career development of ordinary employees, and the head enterprises form a technological monopoly, which hinders the overall development and technological innovation of the industry.
Through the dispute with Honeycomb Energy, Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. mainly showed its attitude, preventing other enterprises from hiring people with high salaries, especially technology research and development personnel, in order to prevent technology leakage. Some insiders told reporters.
Market war
Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. occupies a leading position in the market because of its wider customer coverage, which brings cost advantages and technical advantages through scale advantages. However, Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. is not without worries.
In fact, since the beginning of this year, affected by the dual factors of upstream price increase and downstream supply guarantee, second-tier battery factories may usher in a breakthrough window period. At present, the battery supplier is challenged by the shortage of raw materials, rising prices and epidemic situation. In order to ensure the safety of power battery supply, car companies use two or more suppliers, which will inevitably reduce some growth space of contemporary Amp Technology Co., Ltd.
At the same time, in order to cope with the rise of raw materials, OEMs have entered the upstream and downstream of the battery industry chain, and some have started to make their own batteries and invest in mining plants, which will also have an impact on power battery enterprises. Although most battery companies maintain the stability of car companies' orders by diluting profit margins, more and more OEMs are increasing their investment in the upstream and downstream of the battery field in order to maintain the stability and security of the supply chain.
BYD will speed up battery supply and set up a joint venture with FAW. Volkswagen China will become the largest shareholder of Guo Xuan Hi-Tech, and Mercedes-Benz will become the main engine factory of Funeng Technology to cultivate its own battery supply company. The position of Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. in its supply chain may also change.
In the domestic market, if contemporary Ampere Technology wants to keep its market share, it is inevitable to compete head-on with second-tier battery enterprises.
Of course, in addition to the domestic market, Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. has greater opportunities overseas. However, it should be pointed out that in overseas markets, Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. does not have an advantage in the competition with Japanese and Korean enterprises.
Although LG New Energy and Panasonic are relatively bleak in China market, they have advantages in overseas markets such as Europe and America, and their market share is higher than that of Contemporary Amp Technology Co., Ltd.. Japanese and Korean companies have already laid out in Europe and America. Although Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. has set up a factory in Germany and obtained a battery production license, it still takes time to open up the market.
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