Bloomberg: Millet became China's largest supplier of smart machines

Absrtact: Beijing time December 24, Bloomberg published an analysis of the article said, although Millet does not have a huge patent portfolio to do the backing, but has become China's largest supplier of smart machines. However, with the global expansion of millet, chasing Apple, Samsung and other giants, its patent lack

Beijing time December 24, Bloomberg published an analysis of the article said, although Millet does not have a huge patent portfolio to do the backing, but has become China's largest smart machine vendors. But as millet expands globally to catch up with giants such as Apple and Samsung, the weakness of its patents is beginning to appear and incur lawsuits.

The following is the full text of the article:

In the absence of a large or expensive patent portfolio, Millet became China's largest supplier of intelligent machines. But its low-cost strategy has now hit a halt-the global expansion of millet has slowed as a result of technical tort charges.

Ericsson accuses Millet of not obtaining a patent authorization to sue in India. The patent concerns the network connectivity of wireless devices. The judge ruled that Millet would be banned from selling parts of its equipment in India's largest overseas market, before another hearing was held next month.

The goal of Millet founder Lei is to increase the number of mobile phone shipments by 5 times to 100 million next year in 2013, surpassing Samsung Electronics and Apple in the world. But Ericsson's lawsuit poses a threat to Lei's goal. The strategy to sell devices at close cost is also at risk, as it increases research and authorization investments in millet to avoid a global patent war like Samsung and Apple.

"The nightmare will continue," said Neil Shah, director of research equipment at the market research firm Counterpoint, "and the patent companies in other countries will now look at millet in other markets as an example of events in the Indian market." ”

Low research and development costs to help millet in four years from the start-up company to grow into the world's third-largest smart machine manufacturers. Shah said that almost all of millet equipment sales are in China, where the weaker IPR enforcement means that millet can "get more protection."

The patent portfolio does not make them more susceptible to lawsuits than other manufacturers using the Android system, Millet said. "Our intellectual property situation is the same as that of other manufacturers in this field. "Hugo Barra, vice president of global operations, millet."

Expected risk

Technology companies generally have their own intellectual property reserves to protect their innovations, including patents and trademarks. They can also empower other companies to generate income from intellectual property.

The challenges that millet faces in this area have been noticed by opponents. "Intellectual property issues could slow the growth of millet," he said. Hiroki Totoki, President and CEO of Sony Mobile Communications, said in a reply to a question on December 19. Sony's Xperia equipment is also a competitor for millet.

Eigerlaw, a patent lawyer Dennis Begel of Shanghai Eiger law Firm (Denis Berger), said that the size of the patent portfolio for millet was small because millet was created soon and must be expanded gradually. Entering overseas markets with a limited portfolio of patents is a "predictable risk".

According to Palawan, Millet is focused on software, while hardware is sold at cost or near-cost prices.

Sales paused

Choy Han, a spokeswoman for Millet, said that after 600 patents were filed last year, Millet was expanding its patent portfolio globally. According to her, Millet will submit 1000 patent applications this year, and then in the next two years to increase the annual one-fold.

"We have filed a large number of patent applications, especially in China, and not limited to China, but also global patent applications," said Barak, "we have patented and patented, which is no different from other manufacturers ' practices." ”

Ericsson Johannes Persson, a spokesman for Ericsson, said the Johannes Persen of 2G, 3G and 4G wireless technology meant that any vendor that sold the standard product would have to be authorized. "Millet refused to respond in any way to the issue of obtaining an intellectual property authorization from Ericsson in an equitable manner." "Pearson said.

Millet stopped all sales in India after a ban was made on December 8 at the Delhi High Court. Millet filed an appeal on December 16 and was allowed to sell equipment using a Qualcomm chip.

Bryan Wang, a marketing research firm, Blaine Wang China, said that while Qualcomm helped clients obtain the authorization of other patent holders, millet could not expect to get that help in all cases. "It will be a major problem for millet to solve," he said.

Millet has a licensing agreement for 3G Multimode products, but cannot disclose details, Qualcomm said in an e-mail.