Allegations by the United States against Asian battery makers for
patent rights violations could block Chinese exports of an
environmental-friendly battery there and cause a devastating impact
on China's battery industry.
US
battery giants, Energizer Co Inc and Eveready Co Inc, applied to
the US International Trade Commission last month to investigate the
patent right infringement of the mercury-free alkaline batteries
made in China's mainland, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and
Indonesia.
China is the world's largest manufacturer and exporter of primary
zinc manganese battery with 75 percent of the output bound for
overseas markets.
Last year, the output of alkaline batteries totaled about 3.5
billion pieces, and almost all of them were for export. Insiders
say the prices of Chinese batteries are usually a third to a 10th
lower than the American-made ones, making them very popular in
overseas markets.
Seven mainland companies are named in the charge - Fujian Nanping
Nanfu Battery Co Ltd, Zhongyin (Ningbo) Battery Co Ltd, Ningbo
Baowang Battery Co Ltd, Guangzhou Tiger Head Battery Group Co Ltd,
Sichuang Changhong Electric Co Ltd, Zhejiang 3-Turn Battery Co Ltd
and Guangdong Chaoan Zhenglong Enterprise Co Ltd. All the companies
declined to give comment regarding this issue.
The US International Trade Commission will launch investigations
against the alleged battery makers on Wednesday.
According to US Section 337 of the 1930 Tariff Act, all goods, if
ruled as violating American patent rights, are banned from being
shipped to the United States.
The section could deal a heavy financial blow to the defendants
because they would not be able to sell their goods there even if
they wished to pay the royalty fees, lawyers say.
"It's unfair for domestic companies as most of them have paid for
related technologies. But the problem is that the technology
sellers are also on the defendants' list," said an official
surnamed Cao with the China Battery Industry Association.
"The US companies are trying to keep competitive Chinese goods
away, since they are eroding US makers' profits," Cao said.
Wan Zhengfu, a lawyer with Kroll Association (Asia) Ltd, said,
"It's likely the outcome will be against the interest of the
Chinese side since domestic companies don't own patent rights at
the moment."
Wan acknowledged that it's possible the US companies want to use
the act to defeat Chinese companies.
But he also cited Chinese companies not attaching much importance
on patent issues which have caused them in this situation.
He
urged that Chinese companies should learn from this case and
protect themselves with legal rights to their product patents.
(Eastday.com May 24, 2003)