During this year’s Two Sessions, Huang Jianping, deputy to the National People’s Congress and chairman of Weimei Group, continued to make suggestions on how to deal with intellectual property infringement and breach of trust issues, sparking heated discussions in the ceramic industry; and during the subsequent “3.15” period, anti-counterfeiting and rights protection actions became more It's a storm.
Although these two incidents have passed, the phenomenon of infringement and counterfeiting in the ceramic industry still continues, and the actions against infringement and counterfeiting will not stop.
01
Patent infringement, trademark counterfeiting
The controversy over anti-counterfeiting and rights protection in the ceramic industry continues to ferment
On April 12, the company owned by Dajing Blue Porcelain issued a statement that its patented technology "a method for preparing fully polished flash crystal sand glazed porcelain tiles" has been infringed and used by some ceramic companies. It is reported that this is not the first time that Dajing Blue Porcelain has issued an infringement statement. In fact, as early as September 28 last year, shortly after the "Black Technology·China Original Technology Crystallized Marble Slab" conference was held, Dajing Blue Porcelain discovered signs of infringement and issued a solemn statement for the first time on December 28.
In the ceramic industry, which is extremely homogenized, patent infringement cases occur from time to time. At the Zibo Ceramics Expo held in September last year, Bee Ejia Ceramics complained that Blue× Enterprise’s display products infringed two of its appearance patents. After the matter was reported by the media, it sparked heated discussions in the industry.
In addition to patent infringement, there are also endless cases of trademark infringement in the ceramic industry. On April 13, Jianyi Marble Tiles reported three cases of counterfeit trademark infringement: After a heavy attack, Jianyi successfully helped three owners in Anyang, Henan, Fuyang, Anhui, and Foshan, Guangdong to protect their rights, recovering a total of tens of thousands of yuan. Tile version.
Relevant statistics show that there were 6 criminal cases of counterfeiting registered trademarks in the ceramic industry in 2020. 12 defendants were punished for the crime of "counterfeiting registered trademarks", and the illegal business amount ranged from 80,000 yuan to 490,000 yuan. , the counterfeited brands are well-known ceramic tile and sanitary ware brands such as Marco Polo, Dongpeng, Wrigley, Jiumuwang, Mona Lisa, and Huida.
In recent years, in response to the endless number of trademark infringement cases, ceramic companies such as Weimei, Jianyi, Dongpeng, and Wrigley have continued to increase their efforts to fight against counterfeiting and protect their rights. It is reported that Weimei Group conducts more than 300 anti-counterfeiting cases through judicial litigation every year, and the amount of litigation involved in the lawsuits in the past three years has been more than 68 million yuan.
02
Intellectual property rights are valued by listed companies
EastPeng, Mona Lisa, and Oceano are all patent-rich companies
As we all know, trademark rights, patent rights and copyrights all belong to the category of intellectual property rights. In the ceramic industry, trademark rights and patent rights are more commonly mentioned.
With the awakening of brand innovation awareness in the ceramic industry, ceramic companies are paying more and more attention to innovation and intellectual property protection: on the one hand, they continue to increase efforts to combat counterfeiting and infringement and protect brand trademarks; on the other hand, they continue to carry out scientific research and innovation, Apply for invention and creation patents to expand your advantages in intellectual property rights.
On January 7 this year, the Foshan Intellectual Property Association held the third member meeting of the fourth session, at which the 2020 Foshan “Top Ten Patent Rich List Companies” were announced. Among them, ceramics industry companies on the list are Oceano, Dongpeng and Mona Lisa.
It is understood that among the companies on the list, Dongpeng is a "resident company" on the Foshan Patent Rich List. It has been on the list for 8 consecutive years. Through continuous efforts to build intellectual property and protect scientific research and innovation, the number of patent authorizations has increased year after year, with a growth rate of more than 50% in recent years;Mona Li Lisahas been on the list for two consecutive years and has made great achievements in technological innovation. The Mona Lisa Research Institute was completed in August last year. As of December 2020, it has obtained a total of 124 invention patents and 109 utility model patents. , 4 international patents; as a company that topped the list for the first time, Oceanno has achieved 50 patent authorizations in the past three years. With a growth rate of more than %, the performance of intellectual property protection is the most eye-catching. It actively carries out construction work in the creation, application and management of intellectual property in the field of ceramics, demonstrating its ability and contribution in strengthening intellectual property protection, and has been highly praised by review experts. unanimously affirmed.
The three companies on the list, Dongpeng, Mona Lisa and Oceano, are all rare listed companies in the ceramic industry. Yiou.com data shows that a total of 41 companies have terminated their listings on the Science and Technology Innovation Board in 2020. 20 of these companies that have terminated their listings involve intellectual property issues, accounting for up to 50%. In recent years, Intellectual property rights play an increasingly important role in the listing process of enterprises. In the future, intellectual property rights will receive more and more attention from all ceramic companies, especially listed ceramic companies.
03
Intellectual property becomes a hot topic during the two sessions
How do ceramic companies ensure that intellectual property protection is in place?
Intellectual property rights have become a hot topic during this year's National Two Sessions, with many representatives and committee members actively offering advice and suggestions on this topic. As the only National People's Congress representative in the ceramic industry who has been elected for two consecutive terms, Huang Jianping, chairman of Weimei Group, has been calling attention to corporate intellectual property protection for many years. This year, he submitted suggestions on the field of intellectual property at the National Two Sessions for the sixth time, with the theme of "Multi-dimensional governance of dishonest persons subject to enforcement of intellectual property rights, and further encouraging innovation to lead development."
Huang Jianping believes that In recent years, my country’s intellectual property protection work has achieved remarkable results, but when it comes to intellectual property breaches, the , there are still problems in governance such as insufficient protection, low enforcement efficiency, and weak punishment and deterrence. The "last mile" of intellectual property protection still needs to be improved. Therefore, he suggested multi-dimensional management of intellectual property rights by increasing the number of intellectual property courts, establishing a specialized intellectual property litigation preservation department, improving the efficiency and enforcement of intellectual property preservation, improving judicial interpretations of intellectual property property preservation, and incorporating intellectual property credit penalties into law. Protection and creating a good legal environment for innovation-led development.
Currently, more and more ceramic companies are beginning to pay attention to R&D and innovation, and their innovation capabilities continue to improve. Intellectual property rights play an important role in stimulating enterprise innovation, building brands, and regulating market order. Protecting intellectual property rights means protecting innovation.
For ceramic companies, while continuing to innovate and develop, they must also pay attention to the protection of intellectual property rights.
First of all, it is necessary to raise awareness of intellectual property protection to avoid the loss of intellectual property due to failure to apply for patents or trademark registrations in the early stages of innovation, as well as to avoid intellectual property disputes caused by unintentional infringement. Secondly, we must establish and improve an intellectual property management system, use scientific management systems to protect scientific research and innovation, and help enterprises develop high-quality development. Finally, we must make reasonable use of legal means, proactively defend intellectual property rights, and dare to take action against infringement and counterfeiting.
Jianyi Group cracks down on counterfeit and shoddy products
In addition, ceramic companies should also assume the responsibility of educating consumers to reject counterfeit and shoddy products, popularize brand knowledge for consumers, actively help consumers fight counterfeiting and protect their rights, effectively protect consumer rights and interests, and establish a positive image of the company.
