Domestic giants for the patent disk LED industry welcome

Science and Technology Daily News, the U.S. market research firm Transparency Market Research's latest report shows that the global lighting market LED business is expected to 30.8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) increased from $12 billion 920 million in 2012 to $86 billion 80 million in 2019.

The market is so large, LED companies want to share a cup of soup. But the LED industry in the middle reaches of the core patent focused on PHILPS, OSRAM, TOYOTA, CREE, Nichia chemical synthesis of five major international giants. They form a tight patent network through each other's patent cross licensing. And the proportion of China's mainland application is relatively late, basically after 2000 began to submit, and most of the utility model and design patents, into the international market repeatedly frustrated.

Just last year, in the face of domestic LED enterprises to go abroad or when a piece of airtight patent network, international giants competing internal and mutual relationship of "enterprise sniper" rising after. And now, this seems to be a giant network began to loose, after a series of competing with the sale of the disk, does it mean that the domestic LED companies can finally get a chance to breathe in the brutal patent encirclement?

International giant cloth patent barriers to build loose?

In August 4th, CREE and EPISTAR signed a global LED chip patent cross licensing agreement, the two sides will get each other's nitride LED chip patent license, and the other part of the non nitride LED chip granted patent rights. On the one hand, CREE's innovative technology and a wide range of patent combinations allow LED components and lighting products more competitive; on the other hand, crystal electric will take this opportunity to more quickly and smoothly push the LED chip on the global stage.

In the previous July, Japan has TOYOTA synthetic white LED patent to two LED packaging manufacturers Chinese, Jufei and ashineon, a supply chain strategic cooperation. In the two domestic enterprises, patent synthetic TOYOTA means to enter the world of white LED patent network, thus opening the enterprises in the international market development space, but also provides white LED patent protection for downstream customers of their. In the same year in January, the investment group led by China Electronics Corporation and Chongqing airport development investment company led by $130 million acquisition of U.S. BridgeLux (Pu Rui) 100% stake. The success of the acquisition of domestic enterprises, the equivalent control of all Bridgelux companies and patent cross licensing, can be carried out from the chip to the module of product integration and the development of vertical Gan on silicon chip, master chip, wafer, package, light and optical design multi core technology.

Coincidentally, this year OSRAM business plan and also part of the lamps and sell their traditional lamps and ballasts, LED lamps and the system unit, which attracted a large number of investors, domestic LED giants, Elec-Tech audio NVC group have joined the bidding".

These patents cross, strategic cooperation, transnational merger and acquisition cases in the industry to convey a signal: patent barriers international giants Bujian appeared loose, through the acquisition of international business giants channels and technology, open up a new road for LED enterprises to break the foreign monopoly China, better go abroad docking with the international market.

Patent is the LED industry must tighten a string

Directly or indirectly by the government led multinational acquisition in vogue, large enterprises from successive important patent owner held the "baton", and cross-border mergers and acquisitions and patent cross license can ease the Chinese LED enterprise patent trapped?

"A few companies get the patent authorization does not represent the whole industry chain of domestic enterprises in fact, it can sleep without any anxiety, just swap agreements between technology and capital, other enterprises in the industry chain more appropriate patent layout in accordance with their own situation. "Latticepower CTO Dr. Zhao Hanmin said, the domestic industry as a whole or in the integrated development trend, industry needs large enterprises with the patent development and innovation ability of small businesses, with its own characteristics, combined with international companies cross cooperation negotiations farmar.

"M & a Chinese capital on global LED assets in addition to the brand market demand, is also an important subject of merger and acquisition of patent technology, accompanied by changes in equity, most of the patents will also transfer, all before the contract is still valid, but have changed the subject. Even if all of the patents are transferred to the Chinese people, due to the main body of the different, still facing the patent litigation or licensing between different subjects. "The general manager of Shenzhen Hua Sheng Lighting Technology Co., Ltd. Xu Wensong said," LED technology is still in the continuous development and improvement, technical route is not the same, even if some patents expire, there will be new patents, the formation of new technical barriers and new licensing, patent is a string of all of us engaged in the cause of LED must be taut. "

Guangdong Yao lawyer and partner Wang Qiang believes that cross licensing fundamentally is more like a combination of strong patent of enterprises, which requires a patent cross licensing technology value of both the basic is equal, the equivalent of "between the strong game". In addition, the patent protection duration is limited, after the expiration of the term of patent protection may reproduce the patent dispute, it is not possible to enjoy cross cooperation to obtain the patent ownership or right to use, "the company according to the mutual giving way to achieve their patent strategy development, but fundamentally will