The hardships: The revelation of the huge patent fee of China high-speed railway

Zhou "train, gold million two" is the Chinese high-speed railway industry, the reality of the portrayal. China became the leading actor at the seventh session of the World High Speed Railway Conference, which opened December 7.　　China's Ministry of Railways has signed a number of railway cooperation agreements with government authorities in Bulgaria, Turkey and other countries, as well as with French Alstom and Canadian Bombardier.　　However, in these "golden million" contracts, a large amount of money is paid abroad royalties. The development of China's high-speed railway industry has gone through a path of "introducing, absorbing, digesting and innovating". In the face of foreign enterprises "China high-speed rail infringement" question, the State Intellectual Property Office director Lipu publicly said, "We buy Germany, Japan, France, plus technology, which is in accordance with international rules to pay royalties, is legal." "The key is, how much is the patent fee?"　　When will it be paid? China's high-speed rail industry is expanding at home and abroad, the Shanghai Guangming law firm Intellectual Property lawyer He Xinguan in an interview with this newspaper, said: "China's high-speed railway enterprises, should be in foreign countries to apply for their own patents, in order to prevent them." "Patent fee suspense China's high-speed railway industry sprang up in 2004, under the backdrop of a big acceleration in the national Railways, the Ministry of Railways has been bidding for high-speed railway technology around the world."　　Germany Siemens, French Alstom, Canada Bombardier and Japan Kawasaki heavy industry successively shortlisted.　　These foreign giants have established joint ventures with Chinese state-owned enterprises and signed technology transfer agreements and purchase contracts with the Ministry of Railways and the relevant state-owned companies through the "market change technology" approach.　　Among them, the amount of technology transfer agreement and China's payment to the foreign patent costs become the most sensitive topic.　　He Xinguan said that the details of the technology transfer agreement is highly confidential among enterprises, "generally speaking, when signing a contract will pay a one-time fee, and then pay the other costs, mainly in accordance with the contract agreed to carry out."　　According to media reports, in July 2004, the Ministry of Railways for the 200 km/h EMU Project for the first time, the German Siemens company issued a sky-high price: each prototype car prices 350 million yuan, technology transfer fee of 390 million euros. The Chinese side insists that the technology transfer fee is below 150 million euros, with each prototype vehicle 250 million yuan.　　Eventually, Siemens was out of business, with Alstom of France, Kawasaki of Japan, Canadian Bombardier and the Chinese side of the company long passenger shares and Qingdao quartet won the bid. In another tender one year later, Siemens joined the Tangshan locomotive and rolling stock plant to obtain a 60-speed 300 km/h EMU Project procurement contract.　　Siemens not only reduced the prototype car price to 250 million yuan per row, but also transferred the key technology to € 80 million of technology transfer fee.　　Over the next few years, Chinese companies imported a variety of prototypes from foreign partners, with at least billions of yuan paid for all the patents. However, some patent costs are not completed in a one-time payment, but are based on long-term payment of products. Our correspondent got a copy of Nan Che Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co., Ltd.Department research report, which disclosed the technology transfer terms of Siemens and Bombardier.　　South Car Zhuzhou Company in 2007 to achieve the 300 km EMU locomotive localization. "At the beginning of production, both companies (Siemens and Bombardier) will charge a certain amount of technology transfer fees," the CSR report said. The difference is that Siemens charges a higher transfer fee, while Bombardier charges a lower transfer fee, but it only authorizes the supplier to sell in a market area that is not in conflict with Bombardier, and Bombardier has a certain amount of revenue for each product sold. These terms and restrictions have enabled Siemens and Bombardier to maximize the benefits of their patented technology. "Absorption and digestion and innovation in the payment of huge royalties at the same time, Chinese enterprises also hardships, will" absorb digestion and innovation "play to the extreme. "So far, we have applied for 946 patents," He Huawu, chief engineer of the Ministry of Railways, said in March this year.　　"Li June, general director of the Ministry of Transport, said to the media, generally speaking, on the basis of the introduction of technology, their own technical content of more than 15% of development and innovation, access to new intellectual property rights." "We are really the advanced technology of absorbing and introducing the high speed railways in various countries, but we build our own system technology integration platform on this technology platform and then innovate on this basis." EMU has won at least 26 innovative projects with independent intellectual property rights. Li said that after the completion of the Beijing-Tianjin inter-city passenger dedicated line, the Intellectual property rights report to the State Intellectual Property Office has approved more than 900 items. "And since 2009, we have started to apply for intellectual property protection abroad."　　But Japanese Kawasaki said in an interview with foreign media that most of the high-speed trains running in China are similar to those of patent-exporting countries. Lipu, director of the State Intellectual Property Office, said that China's high-speed rail technology in the original technology based on a lot of innovation, is the technology with independent intellectual property rights, there is no so-called "plagiarism." In introducing these existing technologies, China has paid a lot of royalties, as did innovation in developed countries. "As long as you use the existing technology, the owner of the intellectual property to pay the cost of legal use, there is no problem of plagiarism." He Huawu, chief engineer of the Ministry of Railways, demonstrates the independent innovation of China's high-speed railway from a technical point of view. He said China's high-speed rail technology is more complex and higher than Japan, Germany and France.　　In these three countries, most of the high-speed rail use track, and China's Beijing-Tianjin inter-city, Wuguanggao, Zheng Sigautie These three lines, operating speed is 350 kilometers, the full line is ballastless track. Out of the country at the opening of the seventh World High Speed Railway Conference on December 7, the Ministry of Railways Minister Liu Zhijun and the government departments of the Republic of Bulgaria, Montenegro, Republic of Slovenia, the Republic of Turkey, and the French Alstom, Canada, Bombardier, Deutsche Bahn AG,　　The United States General Electric Company signed a separate railway cooperation documents. China's high-speed rail companies have become a commonThe infrastructure companies, represented by China Railway, China CRCC, and equipment manufacturing companies represented by China Southern Car and China North vehicle, have already received a large number of orders in the Middle East and African markets.　　But Zhang Ping, a professor at Peking University's Law school, warns that foreign companies are less likely to prosecute high-speed rail infringement in China at the current situation, but they will not rule out lawsuits from countries that "go out" to China's high-speed rail.　　In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Kawasaki stressed that its technology transfer contracts with Chinese authorities have stated that the technology is limited to use in China and that Chinese companies cannot apply it to export products.　　The details of the contract between the foreign giant and the Chinese are now difficult to understand, and He Xinguan suggested that China's high-speed rail companies should apply for a patent abroad as soon as possible. He Xinguan The European Patent Office and the State Intellectual Property Office of the database of the search, found that China Southern car and China North car as the representative of the railway enterprises in Europe, the United States, Japan, the basic no patent deployment. He Xinguan said foreign giants in Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and other countries may not apply for a patent, but in Europe, the United States and other developed countries, the number of patents far more than Chinese companies.　　These developed markets are the next target for China's high-speed rail companies. Zhang Ping believes that intellectual property strategy is a strategy of advance deployment, the owners of high-speed rail technology has long ago launched a patent for China, especially those countries where China has the potential to export high-speed rail technology. Chinese companies also need to be aware that it will take a long time to apply for patents and licensing to applications, and that China's Gao Tiezhong technology should be patented in the target country as soon as possible.