Xiaomi is involved in a patent infringement storm again: Is it because a big tree attracts the wind or because a big store bullies customers?
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When it comes to innovation and innovation protection, large and small companies, as well as companies and individuals, are equal. Is Xiaomi’s new turning point coming again? According to data released by IDC, Xiaomi's smartphone shipments reached 27.6 million units in the third quarter of 2017, making it back into the top five smartphone sales worldwide. In addition, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun has also begun to make a high-profile appearance again. However, it is probably too early to easily conclude whether this turning point is from the trough to recovery, or a short-term recovery back to the trough. Taking this year's "Double Eleven" as an example, Honor, Huawei's Internet mobile phone brand that competes with Xiaomi, achieved a comprehensive reversal of Xiaomi. Not only was it far ahead of Xiaomi on the JD platform, but the combined sales of the "JD + Tmall" dual platforms also surpassed Xiaomi. Xiaomi was ahead of Honor only on the Tmall platform. It is worth mentioning that Xiaomi’s newly released Redmi Note 5A was questioned for patent infringement as soon as it was released. The “one machine, three slots” card tray structure it adopted was suspected of infringing on the patent rights enjoyed by others. In fact, this is the first time that Xiaomi has been involved in a patent infringement whirlpool due to the launch of a new product. So, are these patent infringement questions targeting Xiaomi or its mobile phone products due to the fact that Xiaomi attracts attention due to its size? Or is it due to Xiaomi's own imperfect patent layout? Shortcomings: Xiaomi’s own patents are insufficient and it has been catching up for many years On December 11, 2014, Xiaomi was sued by Ericsson in the Delhi High Court in India for allegedly infringing eight patents owned by Ericsson, including ARM, EDGE, 3G and other related technologies. This is the first time that Xiaomi has been accused of patent infringement due to its own insufficient patent layout or improper patent cooperation. Subsequently, Xiaomi took the initiative to "bleed" and temporarily obtained the right to continue selling mobile phones using Qualcomm chips under the condition of "prepaying 100 Indian rupees per device and depositing it in court." However, mobile phones equipped with MediaTek chips are still in a "ban on sales" state. However, Xiaomi's "upward" trend in India at that time also suffered a major setback. On November 19, 2015, Xiaomi was sued by an NPE named BlueSpike in the Marshall Division of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, accusing Xiaomi of infringing its patent rights in the United States through the smart communication devices sold by Tomtop. Since then, Xiaomi has increased its efforts in independent research and development and patent applications. In addition, it has also actively begun to acquire patents overseas. On October 23, 2015, Xiaomi acquired 31 wireless communication patents from Broadcom. On February 4, 2016, Xiaomi purchased 332 U.S. patents from Intel, a U.S. chip giant, covering many fields such as "storage management, control logic, sequence coding, computer packaging, handheld terminals, and circuit boards." On June 1, 2016, Xiaomi purchased another 1,500 patents from Microsoft. In July 2017, according to the cooperation reached between Nokia and Xiaomi, Xiaomi purchased some patents from Nokia. Troubles: Independent innovation seems to lag behind patent infringement Although Xiaomi has continuously increased its efforts in independent research and development and patent acquisition, patent infringement questions or lawsuits surrounding Xiaomi mobile phones and other products continue to occur. For example, among the full-screen mobile phones that have been released, the design of Xiaomi MIX2 is quite unique, but some people question whether it is a plagiarism of the appearance design of Sharp AQUOS CRYSTAL X mobile phone. In addition, Xiaomi's Redmi series of mobile phones seem to have become the "hardest hit area" for suspected patent infringement. In June 2017, Redmi Pro, which can be regarded as one of the "shortest-lived phones in history", was suspected of patent infringement due to its rear dual-camera solution. The supplier of dual-camera accessories for this phone was sued to court. Fortunately, Xiaomi itself was not sued at the same time. The most recent patent-related dispute is the Redmi Note 5A, whose three-slot card tray structure was accused of patent infringement. In fact, the three-slot card tray structure of one machine, including the "dual SIM dual standby" + "memory expansion" structural design, has been applied for a utility model patent in advance by an individual named Jiang Chunxiang on December 15, 2016, and was authorized on July 18, 2017. Through patent comparison, the three-slot card tray structure of Redmi Note 5A is indeed basically the same as the "mobile phone card tray with three card slots" held by Jiang Chunxiang. Question: Is Xiaomi popular and prone to controversy? Or is it because the store is so big that it bullies customers? According to the information that has been disclosed so far, the patent is still valid, and the Redmi Note 5A adopts this structural design without obtaining permission from the patent owner. Therefore, if Xiaomi cannot "cancel" the patent through the patent invalidation procedure, then the probability that the Redmi Note 5A will be judged to constitute patent infringement is very high. Public data shows that in the past few years, no less than 30 utility model patents of Xiaomi have been declared invalid by others, of which 15 patents were declared invalid in full, 7 patents were partially declared invalid, and only 8 patents were maintained valid. Simply put, the quality of Xiaomi's own patents is not stable. Although it has increased its efforts in patent application and layout, it cannot completely eliminate the possibility that Xiaomi products may infringe patents. Therefore, the most important thing is not that it owns all the patents, but that it has obtained the corresponding licenses for the patents necessary for its business or mobile phone products. Otherwise, if these hidden dangers are not removed, they will sooner or later bring huge risks to its business or products. It is particularly noteworthy that we need to be vigilant against mobile phone manufacturers such as Xiaomi, which, after growing in size and brand, abuse their dominant position to maliciously infringe on the patent rights of others, such as delaying the conclusion of patent licensing agreements, and using patents in the name of negotiation without paying relevant fees. After all, when it comes to innovation and innovation protection, large and small companies, as well as companies and individuals, are equal. As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity. |
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