PK intellectual property: Who is stronger, Meizu or OPPO?

You can only tell whether it is a mule or a horse by taking it out for a walk.

Among domestic mobile phones, there is a force that cannot be underestimated. We can call them the "Guangdong School", including ZTE, Huawei, OPPO, Meizu, etc. They are all representatives of this force. They are all rooted in Guangdong, and although they started from different places, they all entered the smartphone market.

Among them, as representatives of "Guangdong-style" domestic mobile phones, Dongguan's OPPO and Zhuhai's Meizu are both "outstanding" and have many similarities. For example, both companies were founded in 2003, one in March and the other in April; both started out with MP3 players; both companies have complete sales networks and channel layouts in second- and third-tier cities; both companies have quickly switched directions and entered the smartphone market, and of course, the prices of both companies' mobile phones were once very high.

It can be said that in the era when MP3s overturned the "Walkman", the two companies began to emerge in the market; and when MP3s declined and smartphones emerged, both companies stood on the "cusp of the trend" in time, always making money and leading the trend.

If there were no variables, the two companies would have had a much easier time than they do now. But when the "Internet phones" represented by "Xiaomi" started to disrupt the smartphone market with a high price of 1999, everyone's good life was affected.

At this point, we have to talk about the difference in market strategy between OPPO and Meizu. As domestic mobile phones, OPPO obviously started earlier in brand building and customer positioning planning, from "Song Hye Kyo endorsement" to the overwhelming "Ulike" TV commercials, to the current "Beauty Snap", focusing on female users and insisting on "high-end", making mid-to-high-end price mobile phones has always been OPPO's core strategy.

In contrast, Meizu, under pressure from "Xiaomi", rolled up its sleeves and fought back with lower prices, lowering the price again and again until 1799, reaching the "lower limit" of the mid-range price of smartphones.

But the question is, if OPPO's core positioning is female users, and Xiaomi's core positioning is the so-called "enthusiasts" and "diaosi", then what is the positioning of Meizu? I guess Meizu's executives can't explain it clearly for the time being.

It can be seen that although both are "Cantonese-style" mobile phones, the styles of OPPO and Meizu are "very different". So, if the two companies PK in intellectual property rights, do you prefer OPPO, which "loves advertising", or Meizu, which "prefers low prices"?

As we all know, in terms of value, patents are undoubtedly the best indicator of the strength of a company's intellectual property. To this end, this article will use the statistical data from the website of the State Intellectual Property Office as a basis to compare and analyze the two companies from multiple dimensions, including the overall scale of patents, patent protection awareness, patent protection structure, and patent protection preferences.

PK Intellectual Property Patent Licensing: OPPO is far ahead of Meizu

From the above table, we can see that in terms of the total number of searchable patents, OPPO is 15 times that of Meizu; in terms of the number of invention publications, OPPO is 18 times that of Meizu; in terms of the number of invention authorizations, OPPO is 25 times that of Meizu; in terms of the number of utility model patents, OPPO is 36 times that of Meizu; and in terms of the number of design patents, Meizu is very close to OPPO, with only 5 less than OPPO.

Perhaps it is difficult for many Meizu fans to accept this comparison result. But this is the reality. In terms of patent application protection, although both are representatives of "Guangdong-style" mobile phones, the gap between Meizu and OPPO can only be described as "huge".

PK on intellectual property protection awareness: OPPO and Meizu each have their own merits

From the above table, we can see that the two companies were established at a similar time, but the order of patent protection applications was different. Specifically, in terms of invention patent applications, OPPO first submitted an invention patent application 1 year and 7 months after the company was established, while Meizu submitted it 1 year and 8 months after its establishment, with little difference between the two. In terms of invention patent authorization, OPPO obtained its first invention patent authorization one year earlier than Meizu - "Control method for mobile phone to determine the type of earphone insertion". Meizu obtained its first invention patent authorization in February 20012 - "Touch screen operating system, mobile phone containing the system and activation method of touch keys thereof".

In terms of utility model patent applications, OPPO submitted its first utility model patent application six years after its establishment, one year ahead of Meizu. In terms of utility model patent authorization, OPPO naturally led Meizu by one year.

In terms of design patent applications, Meizu submitted its first design patent application 10 months after its establishment, while OPPO submitted its first application 5 years and 9 months after its establishment. In terms of the first design patent authorization, Meizu was 4 years and 2 months ahead of OPPO.

It can be seen from this that in terms of patent protection awareness and preference of the two companies, OPPO relatively attaches more importance to invention patents and utility model patents, while Meizu has a "special liking" for design patents.

PK Intellectual Property Defense Capability: OPPO is slightly stronger than Meizu

From the above two figures, we can see that among the authorized patents obtained, in terms of invention patents, utility models, and appearance designs, OPPO's proportions are 13%, 75%, and 12%, respectively, while Meizu's proportions are 4%, 15%, and 81%, respectively.

Obviously, OPPO uses the "micro-innovation" strategy to build a protective wall through utility model patents and invention patents, while Meizu uses the "experience" strategy to impress users with appearance design.

From the perspective of intellectual property competition and defense, OPPO's competitive and defensive capabilities are slightly stronger than Meizu's.

PK intellectual property rights: mobile phone patents: OPPO has far more than Meizu

Through the above two figures, we can see that in the three aspects of invention patents, utility models and designs, the proportion of mobile phone patents in OPPO's patents is 91%, 38% and 78% respectively. And in the patents held by Meizu, the proportion of mobile phone patents is 50%, 44% and 51% respectively.

Obviously, among the authorized patents held by OPPO, the proportion of mobile phone invention patents and mobile phone design patents is much higher than that of Meizu.

This is enough to show that in the field of smartphones, OPPO attaches more importance to patent layout and achievements than Meizu.

Through the above two figures, using patent type as the classification standard, we analyze and compare the distribution of the two mobile phone patents. We can see that among the mobile phone patent authorizations that have been obtained, the proportions of OPPO's invention patents, utility models, and appearance designs are: 24%, 58%, and 18%, respectively, and the proportions of Meizu are: 4%, 13%, and 83%, respectively.

Simply put, among the patent authorizations obtained, OPPO's layout in the mobile phone field is far stronger than Meizu. It has a higher proportion of invention patents and utility model patents, and its patent competition and defense capabilities are balanced. Meizu, on the other hand, is obviously "partial" or "unbalanced", focusing on appearance design while neglecting invention and utility model deployment, making its ability to resist attacks relatively weak.

Specifically speaking of the mobile phone patent deployment strategy, OPPO has laid out everything from mobile phone structure, screen technology, lock screen, alarm and other smart applications, to chargers, interface specifications and data cables, and has obtained a large number of patent authorizations. It can be said that in terms of building a patent protection wall, OPPO's intellectual property strategy is both steady and cautious.

Meizu is obviously unbalanced. The number of authorized patents it has obtained is relatively small and scattered in screen technology, data transmission, and mobile phone structure, which is not very systematic and cannot form a complete patent chain or firewall.

As a parent, no one wants their children to lose at the starting line. However, Meizu and OPPO have used real-life examples to tell us that although they started at the same starting line, due to the different interests, awareness, strategies and patterns of the management, the further they run, the greater the gap between the two styles will be.

If we say that in terms of intellectual property rights, Meizu is lagging behind its "latecomer" Xiaomi, then compared with its former "classmate" OPPO, Meizu can hardly catch up.

Meizu, it’s time to re-examine your intellectual property strategy!

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.