InterDigital Inc (IDCC)

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Patent battle: the elderly rest on our laurels, the couple climb mountains

Rats nest at 12:14 on November 28 Share to: Patents , Microsoft , Nokia Category: Internet
Abstract: Progress in technology and markets on the road, subject to the constraints of foreign domestic manufacturers of patented technology appears to be a must. The best solution is to strengthen their patent reserves, in addition to the acquisition of additional inventions, breaking the original technical limitations.



Last year, Samsung and Apple's patent war to smoke has not dissipated, the domestic mobile phone manufacturers on various issues patents began rampant. For a time everyone's attention once the patent referred to a height never had it out of the country and domestic mobile phone manufacturers intrinsically linked. But in the country has been used to "quiet" day of Chinese manufacturers can not withstand the test of foreign rules of the game, but also the Chinese manufacturers their real skills.

From the patent itself, is a national law grants the creator of an invention or their rights in a given period following the recipients of its exclusive right to use inventions. Although China's IPR attention has been paid late, in 1980 became the World Intellectual Property Organization of (WIPO) members, data query SIPO website first started in September 1985. But generally believed that the British 1623's "monopoly regulations" is the starting point of modern patent protection system.

In the US, there are 125 years of patent law, which provides that: a technology to obtain patent must be novel, useful and creative, so you can enjoy patent patent inventor exclusive rights for 20 years; "design patent", including product design, through a simple review process after the granting of patents, which is valid for 14 years. Most also believe that foreign domestic intellectual property protection is stronger than domestic, since the beginning of the industrial revolution of the patent means that the interests of real money, which is from the Apple Samsung patent war can be seen.



Phone as a modern scientific and technological inventions, nature is a product of various patents. Statistics show that one section of smartphones sold in about 250,000 patents. Such a large number of patents mostly need to pay. In general, the cost of a mobile phone patents licensed from major operating systems, hardware (such as the right to use WCDMA chip), composed of other patent licensing fees.

Suppose we buy Samsung GT-I9100G, the price is 3499 yuan, then according to the patent licensing fees, patent fees to be paid = $ 10 (pay royalties to Microsoft) to $ +5 (Qualcomm chip pay licensing fees) = $ 15. If we add other vendors such as Apple, Nokia, Samsung granted patents, we need to pay the costs still more. Like phone font, various sensors, audio and video decoding technology, chip patents, baseband, the phone's internal cooling design, application optimization design, mobile hardware patents licensed these patents are required to pay in order to use or purchase the product. Now there are a large part of the mobile phone patents are in the hands of a few large vendors. These hold a large number of mobile phone manufacturers, even if the patent does not produce the product, but the annual patent licensing fees will have billions of dollars in revenue, income is higher than the actual production of many manufacturers.



Nokia is a good example, although Nokia's mobile phone business was acquired by Microsoft, and last month, Microsoft is also logical to remove the Nokia brand label. While Nokia's mobile phone brand is not, but as a veteran of the mobile phone brands like Nokia's volume should not be overlooked.



Microsoft last year to about 7.2 billion dollars to buy Nokia's core mobile phone business, as well as a large number of patent portfolio, of which 2.18 billion for the acquisition of 8500 patented design and utility patents about 30,000 non-exclusive patent license and patent applications. The problem lies in the "non-exclusive patent" above, which is defined as two parties about the patented technology provides the transferor to the transferee permit implementation within a certain range, while retaining the right to use the patented technology and the transfer of power in this range, Nokia simply means that while Microsoft's patent license to use, does not affect him to continue to sign patent license agreement with a third party.



According to the State Intellectual Property Office website statistics show that as of November 26, 2014, the total amount of Nokia's patents for retrieving 12121 (bar), Nokia announced the invention of the number of 3955, Nokia's authorization number for 3647 invention, Nokia's utility model number is 33, the number of Nokia's design for 1042.



What was it in the end mean? Only from the above figures, may still not understand why people say that Nokia is "patent giants." But if you take Nokia's patent holdings mainstream domestic mobile phone manufacturers to compare, I believe many people will have more "concrete" feel of. Nokia patents registered in China's domestic mobile phone manufacturers is several times or even several times.

In the patent application, utility model patents than long audit cycle design, application difficult, high-tech, but also the most lethal or defense of the patent. Nokia has a large number of patents, patent harm throughout its mobile phone into 2G, 3G, 4G and other major communications network.

With these patent portfolio, Nokia can "something for nothing." Including Apple, Samsung, HTC, Microsoft, Blackberry, LG, Sony, Motorola, Huawei, nearly 40 companies are required to pay licensing fees to Nokia. Nokia can get an annual income of € 500 million patent least. Of these, about 200 million euros from Apple, € 100 million is from Samsung, € 50 million from Microsoft, as well as 1000-30000000 euros from the HTC. The remaining approximately 100 million € 50 million was obtained from other industries where companies and businessmen. To 2018, the annual get royalties Nokia will rise to 600 million euros.

The same thing also happened at Microsoft, where, apart from Microsoft's acquisition of Nokia's part aside. Prior to the acquisition of Nokia, Chinese mobile phone operators have to pay royalties to Microsoft a lot of money. Microsoft has always had a large number of patents, although Android is free to use, but the use of Microsoft's patent system, including file management, communications management, still need to pay patent licensing fees to Microsoft.

Microsoft has Android smartphone manufacturers to about $ 5 each, each tablet price of about $ 10 levy royalties. 2017, Chinese companies are required to pay at least $ 3.8 billion of Microsoft's patent licensing fees (including past sales). Microsoft has included flash erase (Patent No. 6,621,746) to create and update contacts (Patent No. 6,909,910), and the pop-up context menu system (Patent No. 5,664,133), and other patents, the Android platform for mobile phones are required to pay. Future income from royalty income Android platform than Windows Phone 7 even bring more. Oracle's 2010 acquisition of Sun, won the Java-related patents, last August, Oracle sued Google, accusing Google by using Java code associated with the company's patent infringement in Android operating system.

In the field of communication technology and software development, mobile phone and computer technology is generic. Many design and function like all the wheels are round as it should be, but these are the patents. Ironically, Microsoft began to obtain patent licensing fees from the Android Linux system before birth, so if viewed from the source, Microsoft to Android as a cash cow that has long been anticipated. 2007 Microsoft claims that Linux infringes on its own 235 patents, however, the specific content of these patents, Microsoft has never published. Microsoft's strategy has always been direct and those who use Linux technology, negotiating, signing a licensing agreement. A number of large companies, including Amazon, Novell, Linspire, Turbo Linux, including Microsoft have signed a patent license agreement in order to protect the company and the interests of users. There are also some in their use of the Linux kernel device manufacturers, after Microsoft's coercion by direct selection of species removed from the device-related functions, such as TomTom.

According to a report recently released show that between mid-2010 to 2013, the amount of income the United States to implement generic entity (NPE) are actually much higher than the patent implementing entity, the former is 3.4 times the latter. InterDigital this family business outside the nameless, the industry's leading companies have more than 8800 patents related to mobile communications, the total number of patents is over 18,000, has been relying on their own ahead of the layout of related patents or patent acquisition of a small company to build its own patent pool. However, it was never carried out research and development after the acquisition of any particular product, but by lawsuits to collect royalties to the major manufacturers. This is the birth of the patent system under a new line of business, patent rogue.

In order to try to avoid the huge royalties devastating impact on their own business, the vast majority of companies are using acquisitions to expand its own way of patent pools. First, in order to protect themselves, the idea is to further and collecting the royalties. Microsoft's acquisition of Nokia's mobile phone business is also Google's acquisition of Motorola.



Illustration: white areas for expanded patent litigation; peripheral gray area as to reach patent deal; solid arrow whom to whom launched a patent lawsuit, hollow arrows counterclaim each other shades arrow represents the time distance, the closer the color The deeper; circle numbers indicate the number of related patents.

As the originator of the mobile communications field-level brand, 17000 wireless technology patents and 7500 patents pending Motorola previous accumulation of surplus value is the maximum. Google spent $ 12.5 billion to acquire Motorola Mobility, the value of a single patent which is about 50-7000000000 US dollars. This will help Google Android (Android) operating systems from Microsoft and Apple patent avoid encirclement. After this, Lenovo has $ 2.91 billion acquisition of Motorola's mobile singers from the Valley, although kind of picking up being chewed sugarcane feeling, but bring Lenovo 2000 Motorola patents and 21,000 patents generally optimistic about the outside world cross that this association into the North American market to be reckoned role, but also the accumulation of patents Lenovo shortcut.

From a historical point of view, the traditional vendors historical accumulation, leading patent reserves. According to the official website to retrieve the latest data from the China Intellectual Property data show that traditional telecom vendors, Huawei, ZTE patent ahead of, the data show that as of the end of 2013, ZTE in the global patent ownership over 52,000, of which more than 90% patents, patent grants has accumulated more than 16,000. And as of November 2014, Huawei patent license obtained nearly 30,000. This allows them to patents, at the forefront of the domestic mobile phone manufacturers. Even if not all cell phone-related patents, but the phone has a patent inextricably linked to the absolute minority. The Yulong Coolpad disclosed patent number 3786, which has been announced for the 508 authorized patents; OPPO started patents from 2012, amounting to 2085 have been disclosed, in which there are 103 authorized patents. For ZTE, Huawei, Lenovo three traditional vendors, they are far from limited to the phone's capital structure and other end products, which granted patents constitute more complex, difficult to horizontal comparison in the traditional vendors, however, as the traditional proprietary vendors advantage necessarily exist.

National Science and Technology as an industrial and-coming, the whole field of science and technology are largely constrained by domestic firms abroad. With Qualcomm, for example, in 1989, Qualcomm developed during World War II communications technology updates for commercial cellular telecommunications technology, this wireless and data products for CDMA technology is the future, people familiar with the CDMA. After Qualcomm to use the technology to change human wireless communication pattern, with the standard goes on from generation to generation, each new patented technologies are converging to Qualcomm's patented technology accumulation. Some experts said that while the development of 3G technology, patents, there are seven to insure the hands of Qualcomm. "This is not an isolated patented technology, but a complete process of accumulation. In addition to the domestic industry will encounter barriers to technology patents developed country settings, starting the country is to develop the rules of the game."



Advances in technology and markets on the road, subject to the constraints of foreign domestic manufacturers of patented technology appears to be a must. Patents are necessary on new business growth over the long march Snow. The best solution is to strengthen their patent reserves, in addition to the acquisition of additional inventions, breaking the original technical limitations. In the long run, in the mobile phone market this environment, only a healthy environment in order to make the mobile phone industry patent normal development. Protection of patents as inventor exclusive rights, but also an obligation to disclose the patent, after the exclusivity period, patent protection will expire. Domestic manufacturers should take full advantage of the failure to develop their own patented technology in order to obtain new patent results.

In the international market, domestic mobile phone today, patent protection has become a serious problem of domestic manufacturers must face. How to deal with the complicated patent war has become the key to a firm foothold in the outside market. In the technology matures, the technology gap is getting smaller today, the patent dispute between manufacturers has become the key checks and balances. Patent battle yuan is not over, but is just beginning.

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Author: Wang Qiang

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