Recently, Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. admitted that the company was suing Tafel for patent infringement, with the amount of litigation being 65.438+0.2 billion yuan, and asked Tafel to stop manufacturing and selling related battery products that infringed patent rights.
At present, the Higher People's Court of Fujian Province has officially accepted the case, and the trial time is still being determined.
There are two protagonists in this infringement case. One is the absolute leader of global power battery suppliers, with a market share of over 27%.
Another person, I believe that even people in the industry will be unfamiliar with this name. Tafel has just squeezed into the top ten domestic power battery manufacturers.
It seems that this kind of game is not common. The usual drama is that a small factory meets a big porcelain factory, but few big factories sue small factories.
It is understood that the content of this infringement is related to the design of explosion-proof valves on battery packs.
Because the temperature of the battery will change during charging and discharging, this will have an impact on the gas in the battery pack. For example, charging and discharging will generate heat, and the gas in the battery pack will expand at this time.
When the vehicle is parked, especially when the outside temperature is too low, the gas in the battery pack will also be compressed due to the influence of low temperature.
Both expanding gas and compressed gas will affect the pressure in the battery pack, and even make the battery pack explode. So at this time, an extra element is needed to balance the internal and external air pressure, and the existence of explosion-proof valve can solve this problem well.
Basically all power battery manufacturers have their own patents on explosion-proof valves. However, according to the different research and development technologies, the number and design of patents applied for will be different.
According to statistics, 144 patents published by Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. are related to explosion-proof valves, and Tafel has 49 patents.
Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. applied for almost all the scores of Tafel, but for such a small part, both parties can apply for so many patents, which shows that it attaches importance to battery safety.
In my opinion, the design principle of explosion-proof valve should be similar. Since Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. can apply for so many patents, it certainly covers many design possibilities.
For some small enterprises, the design of large enterprises may be adopted and changed. After all, this is a part closely related to security, and stability is the best choice.
According to industry sources, part of Tafel's technical team came from Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd., participated in the research and development of BMW power batteries, and then left Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. for some reasons. So will the works of these teams exist in the existing patent of explosion-proof valve of Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd.?
Therefore, it is not excluded that Tafel overlaps with contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. in technology, and there is indeed the possibility of infringement.
But it is very strange that why did Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. choose to sue Tafel at this time?
Just in February this year, Tafel's shipments reached a new high, with a year-on-year increase of 4802%, becoming a dark horse and reaching the seventh place in the domestic power battery list.
At present, Tafel is accelerating the mass production of fast-charging NCM batteries. It owns three series of new energy technology products: high-performance square aluminum lithium-ion batteries, lightweight lithium-ion battery modules and customized high-performance battery systems, and the prospects are very promising.
However, if Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. wins the case at this time, Tafel will not only face compensation of 654.38+0.2 billion yuan. More importantly, the batteries they are preparing to ship and are developing will not be used and need to be redesigned. This will inevitably affect the car companies that Tafel serves, and even make Tafel lose customers who have always maintained a stable relationship.
Then at this time, the person who may benefit the most is Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd.
These font developers will first publish their own new fonts on the font website for others to download, without indicating whether they can be used for free or confusing users with ambiguous descriptions.
However, once it is found that the creator who uses the font has gained high attention, he will inform the other party through legal channels that he has infringed on the font he developed and demand compensation. At this time, the creator either pays or deletes the previous videos, and there is no room for reason at all.
This practice can be understood as "fattening before killing".
In the face of the rising Tafel, is this the same mentality that contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. sued?
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.