Appotronics Announces Litigation Against Delta Electronics for its Infringement Lawsuit

SHENZHEN, China, Dec. 31, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- On December 20, Appotronics Corporation Limited (688007.SH, "Appotronics") made the Announcement of Appotronics on Litigation against Delta Electronics for its Malicious Lawsuits, which reads that Appotronics filed a suit against Delta Electronics for its infringement lawsuits with Guangzhou IP Court on December 17, requesting to order Delta Electronics to stop its infringement lawsuits, to compensate Appotronics for economic losses and to apologize to Appotronics publicly and eliminate adverse effects.

That afternoon, Appotronics held a media meeting in Shenzhen, at which it introduced the relevant information on "against Delta Electronics for its infringement lawsuits", shared Appotronics's R&D progress and intellectual property results for past three quarters in 2021, and responded to concerns of reporters on site.

About Appotronics's R&D and product progress as well as the plan for future R&D directions, TANG Shi, the Vice President of Appotronics, stated:

Appotronics is a high-tech company, i.e. a technology-based enterprise. It invested nearly RMB200 million in the research and development for past three quarters, a year-on-year increase of 6.34%, representing approx. 10% of its operating income. The continuous investment in research and development provides strong support for Appotronics's short, medium and long-term strategic goals, so as to ensure that Appotronics maintains its leading advantages in terms of key technology.

"Fengmi X1 laser projector, launched on the market at the Double 11 shopping event this year, adopts a new generation of laser display light generator". It was understood that such light generator has a thickness of less than 2cm, but its efficiency is more than 20 lumens per watt, so it is a core component of light generator with the highest energy efficiency ratio in this industry. Whiling ensuing a high-brightness display screen, X1 can operate for more than two hours by using the built-in battery.

In 2014, Appotronics took the lead in adopting "SAAS service mode for cinema laser light sources" in the industry, namely, the fees are collected based on the length of use of the leased projection equipment. The ALPD® laser protection light source of Appotronics enjoys obvious cost advantages, such as long life, slow attenuation and high light efficiency, which provides strong support for the marketization and general application of "SAAS service mode". The high-lumen projection equipment, which focuses on cinema projection equipment, has achieved the goal of 20% increase in overall energy efficiency and 50% decrease in volume through a series of R&D this year.

And this year, Appotronics also launched the first HDR laser display prototype with "contrast ratio greater than 1,000,000 : 1 and the peak brightness greater than 100nits". TANG Shi said, "we plan to achieve the goal of mass production of this prototype next year".

In terms of innovation business, at the airplane exhibition in Zhuhai this year, Approtronics and Airbus Group exhibited the laser display prototype that can be used in the field of civil aviation display for the first time. Appotronics also increased its basic technology R&D expenses this year, and built the R&D capabilities of AR goggles from theory, technology, devices to systems, with a view to releasing lightest and smallest AR module samples within 2022.

The laser display technology has the advantages such as small size and low energy consumption. Also, with its unique superiority in converting the surface of any color, material and shape into the display and touch surface without any damage, this technology has gradually become a new direction for vehicle display.

Reportedly, this year Appotronics has increased its R&D investments in new applications and new product fields, and established an innovation center for incubating applications in new fields such as aerospace display, vehicle display, robotics and smart homes.

"Appotronics has always taken the lead in the field of laser display. We will apply our self-developed new technology to difference scenarios and increase the research and development of the "hard technology" to cover a wider range of application scenarios. We are committed to providing a better experience," TANG Shi said.

Earlier this month, the incoPat Innovation Index Research Center and IPRdaily Chinese Network jointly released the "Laser Display Technology Patent Ranking". Appotronics ranked second by virtue of 638 patents.

Apptronics has been granted more than 1,300 patents by the China National Intellectual Property Administration. The company refutes the ranking that listed Apprtronics was ranked second by virtue of 638 patents.

Some media have noted that Appotronics made an announcement on against Delta Electronics for its infringement lawsuits, and TANG Shi responded to it and introduced the relevant information of such announcement. 

"Appotronics is a Chinese company with original technology and independent intellectual property rights. As the founder of laser display industrialization, it not only originally invented the ALPD® core technology with high cost-effectiveness and industrialization foundation, but also established a complete protection system for intellectual property rights. Regardless of the quantity, quality, number of citations and global layout of Appotronics's patents, it is in the world-leading position in the field of laser display," according to TANG Shi.

"It is precisely because Approtronics's patents are of outstanding significance and basis for the industry, and it is difficult for competitors to fully imitate or directly bypass our patent layout, that patent litigation occurs frequently." TANG Shi underscored that Appotronics's basic patents have gone through 25 invalidation tests, and the China National Intellectual Property Administration still maintains the validity of the patent rights in the decision made in respect thereof, so our basic patents are very stable.

Delta Electronics is an enterprise based in Taiwan region, and discussed the cooperation with Appotronics in 2020 and subsequently, without the authorization by Appotronics, it applied for a patent consistent with Appotronics's technology. In the litigation case, Delta's products were determined by Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court as infringing Appotronics's high-value patent rights; during the IPO of Appotronics on the STAR Market, Delta announces filing of patent infringement lawsuit against Appotronics, "the first case of the STAR Market patent" well-known to the public.

Two lawsuits involved in "the first case of STAR Market patent" in the second half of last year, Guangzhou IP Court "dismissed all claims made by Delta" in the judgement of first instance. During the second instance of the Supreme People's Court, Delta withdraw its case and Appotronics prevailed in "the first case of STAR Market patent".

"After "the first case of STAR Market Patent" was concluded, Delta continued to sue Appotronics with the same amount with local courts, resulting in the Appotronics repeatedly triggering announcements. There was even a circumstance under which 'after Delta made us trigger an announcement, it withdrew its suit due to failure to pay fees'," TANG Shi said.

At present, Appotronics has taken active actions and engaged a team of lawyers to actively defend its rights, and filed a lawsuit with Guangzhou IP Court against Delta and related parties for such infringement actions, so as to protect the legitimate rights and interests of Appotronics and secondary investors.

As a leader in the laser display industry, Appotronics is committed to promoting the healthy development of this industry. Here, TANG Shi calls on the public to pay attention to the progress of Appotronics's technological innovation and main business, the support to the development of emerging industries and contributions to the rise of "Created by China".

As to the legal basis for Appotronics to sue Delta Electronics for infringement litigation, GAO Lijing first introduced the relevant laws and regulations. The so-called infringement suit usually refers to the one filed by a party deliberately for the purpose of obtaining illegal or improper benefits, as a result of which the counterparty suffers losses in the litigation.

Further, Article 2 of the Law of the People's Republic of China for Countering Unfair Competition provides that an operator shall, in conducting the production and operation activities, follow the principle of voluntariness, equality, fairness and good faith, and observe law and business ethics. An operator shall not violate the provisions of this Law, disturb the socio - economic order, infringe the lawful rights and interests of other operators or customers in its production and operation activities.

Therefore, Appotronics believes that the said patent infringement litigation by Delta constitutes infringement lawsuits, so we request the court to rule that Delta should offer an apology, eliminate the impact, compensate for losses, and bear all reasonable expenses paid by Appotronics to stop its infringement.

"Does Delta's series of lawsuits affect the stability of Appotronics's patents?" For this question, GAO Lijing firmly said that it will not affect the stability of Appotronics's patents.

Regarding the patents involved in the lawsuits filed by Delta against Appotronics, Appotronics has successfully made two patents of Delta invalidated by commencing invalidation proceedings with China National Intellectual Property Administration. This means that such two patents of Delta do not exist ab initio, that is, Delta can no longer use such two patents to bring any lawsuit against anyone.

As the founder of laser display industrialization, Appotornics not only originally invented the ALPD® core technology with high cost-effectiveness and industrialization foundation, but also established a complete protection system for intellectual property rights, which safeguards its own hard-core scientific and technological attributes. Our patents have gone through many invalidation challenges, and the quality, quantity and number of citations all reflect our strong core competitiveness in the fields of technology and patents.

The holdback force of Appotronics's patents has been better demonstrated through repeated litigation. Different from other legal lawsuits, for a technology-based company, one of the important manifestations of the scientific and innovative nature is to safeguard its own patent through frequent patent litigation. "Our patents are constantly being 'attacked' by others, which also shows Appotronics's patents cannot be avoided, and just reflects our high-tech attributes. Samsung, Apple, Qualcomm and other companies are also involved in many patent litigation cases," GAO Lijing said in an interview.

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