LED lighting advances in infringement and rights protection

Statistics show that with the gradual increase of end-customer acceptance of LED lighting products, the overall size of the domestic LED indoor lighting market has shown an increasing trend. At the same time, the competition among LED lighting manufacturers is fierce. Since the first half of 2011, there have been nearly 1,800 LED indoor lighting companies in China.

"At the same time as the expansion of the LED product market, the number of manufacturers is also growing at a double-digit rate. In order to achieve rapid entry, most companies only start from imitation and even infringement. After all, the market is too big and supervision is not easy." Manager Ma Shoufeng said. He disclosed that the company's self-developed and patented fluorescent tubes have also been subjected to "shanzhai", which has seriously affected the sales performance of the terminal.

“In the lighting industry base, factories and retail outlets are too concentrated and bring together a wide range of trends and styles, and 'plagiarism' is certainly convenient. Since there are convenient conditions, instead of 'plagiarism', it seems a bit stupid.” Do not be afraid of yourself “The plagiarism experience,” said Ma Junwei, the owner of Qikai Optoelectronics, frankly stated, “When you first entered the market, there was no financial or human effort to develop new products. It was just different ways for everyone to “copy”.”

Plagiarism is not only burdened with the infringement of intellectual property rights, but there is also the risk of a lawsuit. This is well-known. The plagiarists are still enjoying this, and the reason is that saving research and development costs, new products can seize the market in the shortest time, and rapid profit-taking is the biggest incentive.

Lighting companies struggle to protect their rights. “There are now three infringing companies that have chosen to settle, but the combined amount of compensation is only over one million yuan, which is a big gap compared to the current market losses.” Shi Jie, chairman of Shi Fu, looks depressed .

The company's "Magnolia Lamp," which spent RMB 10 million for research and development, encountered a large area of ​​"piracy" within two years of being put into the market. Although Shi Fu-Ford has begun to take legal proceedings, even if it can win the final victory, whether it can be fully implemented is a big problem. Shi Jie is helpless: "If even the most basic intellectual property rights are not effectively protected, then who dares to concentrate on research and development?"

Many people in the industry suggest that newly designed products can be applied for patents. This is a safe way to safeguard their rights. Only for lighting companies, this approach can not help but a bit itching.

Taking the style of ceiling lamp updating as an example, a product series is about 3 to 5 styles, and there are about 5 to 6 kinds of different surface treatments each. Color temperature and light efficiency can be divided into 2 to 3 different types. "If the five ceiling lights series are introduced every half year, there are almost 120 style changes, and this does not include other types of LED products." Mr. Wang Junhua, deputy general manager of Juke Lighting, introduced.

"While waiting for the approval of the patent, perhaps the lamp has already been filled with the street. Moreover, even if it is applied for a patent and finds an infringer, it will have to sue. When it finally wins the lawsuit, the result is not necessarily what you want, even The return is not worth the investment," said Ma Shoufeng, general manager of Long Lighting. He said that although he has not yet embarked on the road to rights protection, he is already prepared for the upcoming problems. If the infringement is made by some small factories or even black plants, it will not be able to fight or catch them because they can close at any time.

According to Wang Jianliang, a lawyer from Beijing Kaishi Intellectual Property Agency Co., Ltd. in Guangzhou, “It is not just the LED industry that is now basically barefooted and afraid to wear shoes.” The reason is that people’s laws on intellectual property Consciousness is weak, there are loopholes in the law's violation of specific industry rules, it is difficult to collect evidence, there is a long time for litigation, and penalties are not enough. The best patent is not only to protect the product technology you produce or sell, but to form a continuous patent protection. system."