2020-04-20
The competition of lithium battery enterprises in various subdivisions continues to rise, among which the patent competition has become a particularly important link in the attack and defense.
From January to February this year, Valta successively filed lawsuits against Amazon, best buy and Costco in the district courts of Munich, Brunswick and Mannheim, Germany, arguing that the Bluetooth headset bean batteries sold on these three e-commerce platforms infringed their patent rights. The spearhead is directed at Yiwei lithium energy.
However, after Yiwei lithium provided the non infringement testimony that the company's bean battery was substantially different from the patent involved, Valta withdrew the lawsuit or withdrew the application for temporary injunction one after another. However, after the German lawsuit "eating flat", Valta went to Texas to file an infringement lawsuit.
Prior to this, Valta also sued Samsung Electronics USA, believing that its headphone products were suspected of infringement.
Yiwei lithium energy said that the company relies on its own patented technology to produce and sell bean batteries, and has 58 patents and patent applications related to bean batteries. If the patent dispute continues, the company will consider the response of counterattack. We will spare no effort to actively protect the legitimate rights and interests of ourselves and our customers from infringement.
The background of Valta suing the downstream customers of Yiwei lithium energy is that the TWS headphone market has entered a rapid warming, and the "cake" of Valta's supply of top TWS headphone batteries has been pried by Yiwei. News shows that at the beginning of this year, Samsung, with the top 3 shipments of TWS headphones, began to switch the bean battery of Yiwei on a large scale.
A person in the lithium battery industry told Gaogong lithium that Valta's prosecution of Yiwei lithium energy's customers or its customers, rather than directly suing itself, was actually intended to put pressure on potential customers of Samsung and Yiwei TWS batteries. Generally speaking, large international companies are unwilling to take risks for patent issues. Because once the product infringement is banned, the manufacturer will be difficult to bear.
"At present, there are two main guesses about Valta's withdrawal in the short term. One is that Yiwei lithium energy forced Valta back with the fact that it did not infringe patents. The other is that Valta reached an 'out of court settlement' with relevant headphone manufacturers." The above-mentioned person stressed that from the outside world, Valta's lawsuit is mainly a "commercial" game, and Yiwei lithium has no infringement.
In fact, Valta's fear of Yiwei lithium energy is not unreasonable. On the one hand, the shortage of Valta's own battery capacity led to the loss of core customers due to supply interruption; On the other hand, Yiwei lithium bean battery has accelerated to catch up with Valta in terms of performance, capacity and cost.
Objectively speaking, it is more and more difficult to avoid TWS battery patents. In order to take a share of the TWS market worldwide, enterprises must have a complete intellectual property evaluation report, establish a perfect product patent group, avoid patent infringement, and deploy the "moat" of market competition.
Gaogong lithium noted that at present, domestic TWS battery enterprises including Yiwei lithium energy, GP energy and Zijian Electronics (VDL) have formed a leading camp. In order to avoid patent infringement, they have formed their own independent patent groups, and actively protect their own and customers' legitimate rights and interests.
➤ varta TWS battery mainly involves patents
Valta used to be "world-class" in the field of TWS batteries with the winding process, but the winding process of button batteries is a public technology, which is not a factor constituting a patent. According to the patents mainly involved in Valta TWS battery, they are mainly in the following four aspects:
Structurally, Valta is a three component straight barrel button battery, which includes upper and lower pole covers and sealing rings. The winding core is made by using the publicity technology, that is, the spiral winding.
In terms of the connection mode between the pole piece and the pole lug, Valta patent has two ways: 1. The anode is interlocked with the groove of the pole cover. 2. Using the winding design, the edge is wrapped, and the blank area of the pole piece is directly connected with the pole cover through physical hot pressing or welding.
In terms of sealing structure, Valta's patented invention is described as a battery composed of three components, a positive and negative electrode cover and an insulating layer. The insulating device (413, 414) is a flat layer composed of plastic, which is a traditional sealing structure.
On the additional components, Valta invention patent describes the external heating safety device, such as PTC, to form over temperature protection.
In general, Yiwei lithium energy, Penghui energy and Zijian Electronics (VDL) are mainly aimed at avoiding patent infringement in the above aspects. At the same time, they form a new patent system through independent research and development in the specific structural design.
0.1 billion weft lithium energy
Structurally, the appearance structure of the bean battery of Yiwei lithium energy is composed of a bottom shell, a cap and an annular enclosure, which includes a first enclosure and a second enclosure.
In terms of the connection method between the pole piece and the pole ear, Yiwei lithium can use the method of leaving blank and folding edges, eliminating the pole ear welding process and improving production efficiency.
In terms of sealing structure, different from the traditional sealing structure of Valta, Yiwei lithium can adopt multiple edge wrapping sealing methods. At the same time, Yiwei lithium energy also has seals between the first wall and the second wall.
02 Penghui energy
In terms of structure, GP adopts the public roll core technology, but the battery structure is two components, the pole cover is designed as a T-shaped, and the top of the lower pole cover is designed with a platform, which increases the space utilization and the sealing strength.
In terms of the connection method between the pole piece and the pole lug, the positive pole of GP pole piece is left blank and folded, and the negative pole adopts the technical route of spot welding the pole lug and external fluid collector.
In terms of sealing structure, Penghui adopts two components, an integrated pole cover and a unique T-shaped structural design.
03 VDL
In terms of structure, the core structure of VDL mainly adopts the lamination process, bypassing the winding process of Valta.
In the connection mode between the pole piece and the pole lug, the outer pole lug on the top edge of the positive and negative pole piece is connected with the shell, in which the thickness of the outer substrate of the laminated winding is thickened to improve the welding strength of the pole lug.
Article source:High tech lithium power grid
0755-89480969
info@powercome.hk
B1202, building 1, Mogen Fashion Industrial Park, No. 10, shilongzi Road, Xinshi community, Dalang street, Longhua District, Shenzhen
www.powercome.hk