The study on the protection of intellectual property rights of chinese automobiles abroad, published yesterday (17) by the chinese research centre for automobile technology, provides professional guidance to chinese companies to better move to overseas markets。
The power of autonomous branding continues to grow
The report shows that the proportion of patent applications abroad for autonomous automobile brands in our country has reached about 30 per cent of the total number of patent applications, and that the proportion of valid patents has increased by 12 percentage points, to 47 per cent, over the same period, indicating an increase in the ability of autonomous brands to innovate at sea。
President of the general research and development institute, yang jiang ding: in recent years we have also been accelerating the distribution of patents in these target markets in europe, south-east asia and south america. We are now actively engaged in high-value patent layouts in over 25 countries and regions。
Journalists have learned that the report also focuses on the current status of patents and litigation in the global automobile market, comparing the top 100 national and foreign patent applications to the fact that when our autonomous brand companies were overseas through the patent cooperation treaty, nearly 50 per cent of patents remained out of the target country, and there was a gap with multinationals。
Wang jun lei, chief expert of the centre for research in automotive technology of china: the patent layout of cars going out of the sea must be precise, with a focus on three synchronized processes, the simultaneous mapping of local intellectual property environment and policy orientations, the simultaneous matching of patent litigation and patent licensing teams, the synchronized matching of local intellectual property resources abroad, and the eventual upgrading of overseas patents from quantity to quality。
Expert: protection of intellectual property rights abroad requires attention to three core points
The pace of “off-boarding” of chinese cars is accelerating, and the challenges in the area of intellectual property rights are becoming more prominent. Experts cautioned against focusing on intellectual property protection in relation to patents, trademarks and copyrights。
First, patent infringement is the primary risk. For example, an intelligent network vehicle may involve thousands of patents. The thoroughness of patent layout is essential throughout the entire process, from product r & d design, production and manufacturing to overseas market expansion. Some enterprises have experienced patent-related problems affecting market access and even faced legal disputes owing to insufficient prior research into the patent situation in targeted markets。
Second, the protection of trademarks also requires attention, in which trademark infringement and bid-outs are two major risks. Owing to the geographical nature of trademark rights, early completion of the registration of trademarks in targeted markets is key to avoiding brand disputes。
In addition, copyright risks cannot be ignored, for example in the area of product design, where creative elements such as car arteries, car signs and interior design are important factors in attracting consumers. Experts stressed that the original protection of these design elements could not be ignored. The unauthorized use of another person's design may constitute a copyright infringement。
From passive to active, building intellectual property defense systems
In the face of the rising trend of protectionism in international trade, my country's motor companies are turning their tactics from passive to proactive efforts to build a chain-wide intellectual property protection system。
Experts suggest that, while our current overseas litigation is focused mainly on auto parts, there is a need to be alert to the potential patent risk of critical core technology in automobiles。
China's leading expert at the centre for research and research in automotive technology, wang jun lei: the future is indeed a double competition for product power and intellectual property power. Our car companies should focus on early warning and response to to tort risk, increasing the distribution of foreign high-value patents and integrating patent strategies into the globalization process。
At the same time, experts pointed out that the automobile industry, particularly in the area of new energy vehicles, needed to establish as soon as possible a transnational intellectual property dispute response mechanism, integrate the resources of governments, businesses and firms, improve the availability of information on overseas intellectual property rights, use insurance, etc. To reduce the costs of corporate advocacy abroad, make full use of the services of third-party professional bodies and build a more flexible system of global intellectual property defence。
Rhoon-jan-jing, the main station
