Recently, Chinese steel giant Baosteel co., Ltd. announced that Japan's largest steel manufacturer, Nippon Steel Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Nippon Steel), announced on October 14 that baosteel co., Ltd. infringed on the patent rights related to Nippon Steel's electromagnetic steel plate and produced electromagnetic steel plates for Toyota Motor for electric vehicle manufacturing, and had sued Baosteel and Toyota Motor in the Tokyo District Court, demanding that the two companies bear 20 billion yen (about 1.1 billion yuan) of damages respectively.
Regarding the intellectual property dispute, Baosteel responded that the patent determination should be based on rigorous and scientific technical exchanges and verification between the two sides, Baosteel strictly abides by various laws and regulations, including intellectual property laws, and does not agree with the unilateral claims of Nippon Steel.
Some insiders said that in the current complex international trade situation and the rise of China's high-end manufacturing industry in the context, large-scale foreign-related intellectual property litigation is an inevitable challenge and normal for China's manufacturing industry to go to high-end and go global, And Chinese enterprises should not take this lightly, and should carry out a careful intellectual property layout and establish a risk response mechanism.
Cause: Patent disputes caused by electromagnetic steel plates
As the core enterprise of China Baowu, a central steel enterprise, Baosteel co., Ltd. focuses on the steel industry and is engaged in processing and distribution related to the main steel industry. At present, it has major manufacturing bases such as Shanghai Baoshan, Wuhan Qingshan, Zhanjiang Dongshan, Nanjing Meishan, etc., and is one of the steel enterprises with the most complete carbon steel varieties in the world.
According to worldsteel data, China Baowu crude steel production in 2020 is about 115 million tons, ranking first in the world; Japan's iron production is about 41.58 million tons, which is less than 40% of China's Baowu, ranking fifth in the world and first in Japan.
It is reported that the electromagnetic steel mentioned in the statement of Nippon Iron and Steel is called electrical steel in China, commonly known as silicon steel, which is an indispensable and important soft magnetic alloy for the power, electronics and military industries, and is mainly used as the core of various motors, generators and transformers. According to the different silicon content, electrical steel can be divided into low silicon wafer (low grade) and high silicon wafer (high grade) two kinds. The case involved high-performance steels of high grades of "non-oriented electromagnetic steel plates".
Non-oriented electromagnetic steel plate is the key basic material to realize the conversion of electrical energy into kinetic energy through the motor and the realization of energy conversion, and its performance directly affects the efficiency of energy conversion, and is one of the irreplaceable core materials for new energy vehicle drive motors. According to the public information of Baosteel Co., Ltd., the process technology, product technology and production line technology of Baosteel Co., Ltd. production line are completely independently developed and integrated by Baosteel Co., Ltd., and a number of innovative designs and technologies are adopted, and the product performance level is leading the world. According to the 2020 annual report of Baosteel Co., Ltd., in 2020, Baosteel Co., Ltd. produced 2.71 million tons of non-oriented silicon steel and 840,000 tons of oriented silicon steel. With the construction and commissioning of the non-oriented silicon steel production line of Baoshan Base and Qingshan Base of Baosteel Co., Ltd., the production capacity of Baosteel's high-grade non-oriented silicon steel will be increased from the current 400,000 tons to 1 million tons in 2023. In addition, Baosteel is the first supplier of new energy vehicle drive motor materials, with a global market share of 30% and a domestic market share of 60%, and the world's well-known automobile manufacturers have taken Baosteel silicon steel as the first choice.
According to reports, in July 2020, Toyota Motor began to partially adopt Baosteel's products for hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and pure electric vehicles sold to Japan. This is the first time that a large Japanese car company has used non-oriented electrical steel produced by a Chinese company in a passenger car produced in Japan. Prior to this, Toyota Motor's steel suppliers were mainly Nippon Steel.
Some people believe that "orders were robbed" is the fuse of the intellectual property dispute between Nippon Steel and Baosteel.
Nippon Steel claimed that Baosteel had infringed the patent rights related to Nippon Steel's electromagnetic steel plates and produced electromagnetic steel plates for Toyota Motor for electric vehicle manufacturing, so it filed a lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court and claimed 1.1 billion yuan from the two companies. In addition, for Toyota electric vehicles that use Baosteel electromagnetic steel plates, Nippon Steel also applied to the court for a ruling to impose a temporary ban in Japan.
Support: Use a variety of means to actively respond to lawsuits
In the face of the allegations by Nippon Steel, Toyota Motor told the media that the company felt "very sorry" about the lawsuit and did not find any patent infringement problems with Baosteel before signing the supply agreement with Baosteel.
Baosteel issued an announcement in response to the patent lawsuit filed by Nippon Steel Company, which will actively respond to the lawsuit and resolutely defend the company's rights and interests. "As an international company with a high sense of social responsibility, the company follows the basic principles of legality and integrity in the process of carrying out various businesses at home and abroad, and strictly abides by various laws and regulations, including intellectual property laws. For the unilateral claim of Nippon Steel, Baosteel shares do not agree. Baosteel said in a statement. In addition, Baosteel also said in the announcement that Baosteel has not yet received a formal prosecution document, and the lawsuit has not yet been heard.
So in the face of such foreign-related disputes, how should Chinese enterprises respond? What is the warning significance of this dispute for the relevant enterprises?
Lin Wei, director of Beijing Daxiao Law Firm, analyzed in an interview with China Intellectual Property News that the case involved high-function steel with non-oriented electromagnetic steel plates, which is one of the irreplaceable core materials for the drive motor of new energy vehicles. Nippon Steel established jurisdiction link points in Tokyo by suing Toyota Motor and bringing Baosteel shares as co-defendants, thus laying the foundation for its home battle advantage. For Chinese enterprises, as Baosteel has responded, they should actively respond to lawsuits and defend their legitimate rights and interests. In addition to a non-infringement defense in a patent infringement lawsuit, a request for invalidation should be filed against the patent involved in the case of Nippon Iron & Steel and the patent of the same family in China, the United States, and Europe as a countermeasure.
In addition, Lin Wei said that according to the statement of Baosteel Co., Ltd., Baosteel Co., Ltd. has done a good job in the investigation of intellectual property rights in the process of carrying out various businesses at home and abroad, and has repeatedly proposed further exchanges and verifications to Nippon Steel on the dispute with Nippon Steel, but has been repeatedly rejected. This warns relevant enterprises that in the current complex international trade situation and the rise of China's high-end manufacturing industry, they should fully recognize that such a foreign-related large-scale litigation will be the inevitable challenge and normalcy of China's manufacturing industry to go high-end and going out, and it must not be taken lightly, in addition to active communication and coordination with the right holder, Chinese enterprises should also take the initiative to counteract or prepare for countermeasures in advance. (Zhao Ruike)
Claiming 1.1 billion yuan, Japan Steel and Baosteel set off a patent dispute