Haier Group was founded in 1984 when China's reforms and opening policy entered a stable stage. The company is dedicated to building its intellectual property and standardization system.

By 2006 Haier Group had applied for a total of over 7,000 patents, registered 1,033 trademarks in China and 3,077 overseas, and now owns 981 known trademarks in China.

Haier also chaired or participated in drafts and revisions of 115 national standards, formulated 397 industrial or other standards and owned 5,730 enterprise standards. Internationally, Haier had six technologies as proposals to the International Electrotechnical Committee and is the only member from China on the senior consulting committee for future technologies.

Haier is now building a patent and standards alert system for home appliance technology.

1. Building internal and external platforms for an alert system

Haier's patent and standards alert system includes organization, information and supporting networks in intellectual property, research and development and marketing, as well as external service networks in government agencies, industrial associations and intermediary agencies. The company has established an exchange mechanism with government departments and associations and hundreds of international and domestic law firms, consulting firms and intellectual property rights agencies that provide services to Haier.

2. Improving our patent and standards library, processing and analyzing intelligence data

It is said that 90 percent of United States firms have their own competition intelligence information organizations. Haier also maintains databases on patents and standards.

The company established and uses Chinese and foreign databases and libraries to monitor the latest technological developments. Developers use such libraries for research to avoid infringement on other companies' patents or to surpass them.

Haier also has a standardization bulletin board and library, which carry information on related standards from over 100 countries and regions. The data is passed to all business units in the group to enhance their work.

3 Building Haier's alert and expert analysis mechanism

Haier has our own alert and analysis mechanism, so that we have in-depth research on possible damages or obstacles from key patents. This way we find the proper solutions to control our losses at the lowest level possible.

4. Creating a combination of patents and standards, building a large patent reserve and actively participating in standards proposals and formulation

In the highly competitive worldwide home appliance market, whomever has rights in formulation has the first move in setting standards and has a lead in competition. In 2006 alone, Haier participated in proposing six international standards, 35 national standards and 62 industrial or other standards.

5. Making a patent blueprint and building a defense network for patents

It is a usual practice in the world that companies build a defensive network of patents through a large number of patent applications. Applying every core patent, basic patent and related patent is a tactical move that is frequently used to stop competitors.

For example, Haier applied for 32 patents on dual-power washers, so we have a comprehensive patent network. This strategy is also widely used in our branches for refrigerators, air conditioners and freezers.

6. Creating a solution for building an alert system

In this area, we did not have ready models to follow. In key issues of our standardization strategy, we first tried pilot projects and then promoted those methods in the group after achieving success This helps reduce our costs and save losses.

7. Protecting our intellectual property rights aggressively

Haier has been paying a lot of attention to protecting our rights and enacting decisive opposition to infringements on our rights. We do not pursue lawsuits as a resolution, but we are not afraid of using legal battles either. China's patent law has been in place for more than 20 years, but Haier has not suffered any significant impacts or losses from intellectual cases, which is a proof of the maturity of Haier's intellectual property rights protection strategy.

The authors work at Haier Group's research and development unit.

Editor's note: The IPR Special is sponsored by the State Intellectual Property Office and published by China Business Weekly. To contact the Intellectual Property Office, the IPR Special Hotlines are 8610-64983041 or 8610-64995826, and the e-mail address is ipr@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 04/16/2007 page9)