Chinese company's German exhibition was raided for insider information: Samsung has also been blacklisted

　　The biggest loss of Chinese enterprises' exhibits being confiscated is not the venue fee, sample fee and labor cost, but the destruction of cooperative relations with overseas customers

　　International Herald reporters Xun Gongdi, Nie Litao, and Jin Jing from Hanover On March 20, at the CeBIT exhibition in Hannover, Germany, the Patriot booth of China Huaqi Information Group, which occupies the prime position of Hall 1, was crowded in front of the Patriot booth, and the F1 sports car printed with the Chinese character "Patriot" under the stage attracted many blond men and women.

　　It is hard to imagine the lively scene of the Patriot booth, whose exhibit MP3 was raided by a Hannover court just a few days ago. The booth of Shenzhen THM Company, whose products were also confiscated, is a different scene: there are almost no exhibits on the booth. Mr. Peng, the person in charge of the company, said that their MP3 player samples were confiscated, and even promotional posters with MP3 patterns were confiscated. He estimated that no less than 20 Chinese companies were raided.

　　The search does not target Chinese companies

　　CeBIT is the world's largest information technology exhibition, held annually in Hannover, and this year China is the first exhibitor outside of Germany. The MP3, MP4 and other products of a number of Chinese companies have been raided due to suspected patent infringement, which has become one of the most watched news in CeBIT.

　　On March 20, the International Herald Herald called Hannover District Court Judge Manfred Knott, who confirmed that as of that day, more than 370 products from more than 30 companies had been seized because the MP3 technology used in these products was patented in Europe, but these companies did not pay patent fees.

　　In addition to MP3 players, the seized products also include DVDs, car navigators and other electronic products that support MP3 playback functions. However, the court emphasized that it was not only Chinese companies that were seized, but also companies from the European Union, the United States, South Korea and other countries. Among them, South Korea's Samsung MP3 products are also involved.

　　The main company that made the search request was Sisvel of Italy. It is a patent fee company that specializes in patent management for some enterprises with patented technology. According to local German media reports, before the opening of the exhibition, the Hannover District Court, at the request of Sisvel, entrusted German customs to forcibly seize the exhibits of dozens of companies suspected of infringing on its MP3 patent rights, including several major Chinese brands such as Patriot, Newman, and Myle Digital.

　　Hartmann, senior manager of Sisvel, told the International Herald Herald that at previous CeBIT exhibitions, the company asked German courts to search the exhibits of infringing companies. The search only looks at the product, not the nationality.

　　Small businesses have suffered heavy losses

　　Since about 90% of the world's MP3 players are produced by Chinese companies, some small and medium-sized enterprises that manufacture for foreign brands have been most affected by the raid.

　　Mr. Peng of THM said that before entering the European market, THM had also negotiated patent fees with Sisvel, but the other party proposed that a one-time payment of $150,000 was required as collateral based on the company's production and export scale, and then the company deducted 60 cents from the deposit for every MP3 player sold by Sisvel. And small and medium-sized enterprises like THM are not cost-effective to pay too much patent fees. Mr. Peng said that if they cannot negotiate with Sisvel, they will choose to abandon the European market.

　　Pan Hongyi, head of Smallware, told the International Herald Herald that the company lost more than 100,000 yuan in this exhibition. And after the exhibits are confiscated, if the company does not appeal, the German side will not return them. Given that the chances of winning the lawsuit are too small, the company is not ready to appeal.

　　In fact, the loss of Chinese enterprises' exhibits being confiscated is not limited to venue fees, sample fees and labor costs. The greater loss is that many exhibitors have agreed with overseas brands and distributors before going abroad to meet at the booth to negotiate cooperation during the exhibition. Today, the exhibits have been confiscated, the booth is empty, the company's image and reputation have been greatly affected, and the cooperative relationship with customers has been destroyed.

　　Patriots are blessed by disguise

　　Among the Chinese companies that were raided, Huaqi Information was less affected. Feng Jun, president of the company, said that the Patriot series MP3 players were raided, which can be said to be a complete misunderstanding, because the company has paid a patent royalty of 60 cents per unit to Sisvel through the foundry. This time it was just a work negligence, and the staff did not bring all the proof issued by the foundry to pay the patent fee to Sisvel.