The US 337 investigation incident that caused a sensation in the LED electronic large screen industry in 2018 has implicated many domestic companies, and many companies have spent a lot of manpower and material resources to protect their rights. Although it ended with the plaintiff withdrawing the lawsuit later, it sounded the alarm for domestic LED screen companies. Many LED screen companies have deeply realized the importance of knowing property rights and patents, and have begun to apply for intellectual property protection. Nowadays, the rising cost of intellectual property rights related to patent benefits for LED display manufacturers has given major LED display companies a "reassurance pill".
On November 25, 2019, the China National Intellectual Property Administration held a press conference in Beijing. The main purpose of the conference was to strengthen intellectual property protection, significantly increase the cost of infringement, and further establish and improve the punitive compensation system for intellectual property infringement. For intentional infringement of patent rights, and the circumstances are serious, the compensation amount can be determined to be between one and five times, with a compensation amount of no less than 100000 yuan and no more than 5 million yuan. In addition, the compensation amount for trademark infringement under the Trademark Law is between one and five times, with a compensation amount of five million yuan.
These infringement compensation amounts can to some extent reduce the infringement behavior of enterprises or individuals, which is simply a welfare policy for the LED electronic large screen industry. In the early stages of the development of the high-definition LED display industry, due to the low technical threshold and the lack of a comprehensive standard, many personnel with uneven technical skills flooded in. Many companies do not have their own R&D teams and lack innovation awareness, so they can only imitate the designs of other companies or directly plagiarize, causing a serious homogenization deadlock in the industry and seriously restricting the development path of industry innovation. However, innovative companies become victims of infringement, but due to the high cost and unsatisfactory results of rights protection, as well as the waste of a lot of manpower and material resources, many companies rarely protect their rights, which gives opportunities for plagiarists.
It is not because the LED display manufacturers with existing patents are unwilling to appeal, but because the cost of patent infringement is too low, the litigation cycle is long, and the evidence is difficult. Many companies are simply unwilling to spend a lot of manpower and material resources to appeal. It is precisely because patent owners do not appeal and the cost of infringement is low that many companies choose to let it go when facing infringement, which is also the main reason why there are many homogenized products in the market. In addition, developing an innovative product requires a lot of manpower and material resources from LED display manufacturers, and the low cost of infringement protection makes many companies unwilling to develop new products.
In addition to product infringement, LED display manufacturers also have their brand trademarks and names infringed. Some companies will ride on the popularity of brand enterprises, using homophones or similar names or logos to become their own company names and brands. Enterprise trademarks and brands themselves are intangible assets of the enterprise. Once infringed by others, it may harm the interests of the enterprise. However, due to the low cost of rights protection and other reasons, many infringed enterprises are helpless.
LED display companies have been infringed not only domestically but also abroad. Especially the 2018 US 337 incident sounded the alarm for domestic LED display manufacturers, and the companies accused of infringement are simply suffering. After a year of litigation, this incident finally ended with the plaintiff withdrawing the lawsuit. Although this incident has caused great harm to the affected enterprises, it has also made domestic LED screen companies aware of the importance of intellectual property rights.
The foreign companies that sued Chinese LED display companies in the 337 incident are inferior to domestic companies in terms of technology, products, and sales. However, due to the long litigation cycle and high costs, foreign companies attempt to exclude domestic enterprises from the US market by utilizing the imperfect patents of domestic LED screen companies, with the sole purpose of monopolizing the US market or extorting high compensation. This incident has made many companies realize their shortcomings and have started to apply for patents. Some institutions have also begun to provide patent services, patent searches, patent updates, and patent warnings, making efforts to promote the construction of intellectual property rights for LED display screens.
In addition, the Shenzhen Market Supervision Bureau has also issued a notice on patent award applications, providing certain subsidies to enterprises applying for patents. As a hub of the LED electronic large screen industry, Shenzhen is known for the saying that the world looks at China and China looks at Shenzhen. It can be seen that this preferential policy has greatly promoted the awareness of LED screen companies to apply for patent protection. This time, the China National Intellectual Property Administration will increase the punishment for patent infringement, which will further optimize the intellectual property environment and make more contributions.
In summary, increasing the punishment for infringing enterprises or individuals by the government can largely encourage enterprises to continuously innovate, increase the intellectual property costs of patent benefits for LED display manufacturers, and also greatly reduce infringement behavior. Nowadays, with the continuous development of technologies such as small pitch LED display screens, LED transparent screens, four in one Mini LED, and COB, the punishment for intellectual property rights has increased. This can invisibly protect the legitimate rights and interests of patent enterprises and promote their healthy and benign development.
