Development history of hongyuan lvd induction lamp

TIME：2021-08-14 15:07:04

Since October 2005, the 6-year-long patent infringement lawsuit between Shanghai Hongyuan and OSRAM ended up with Hongyuan’s wining judged by Higher People’s Court of Shanghai Municipality and Higher People’s Court of Beijing Municipality after several rounds of litigation procedures of No. 2 Medium People’s Court of Shanghai, Higher People’s Court of Beijing Municipality, State Intellectual Property Office, No.1 Medium People’s Court of Beijing and Higher People’s Court of Beijing Municipality. 

Looking back to this litigation process, it was a life-or-death struggle. From this lawsuit caused by OSRAM and events that bashed the Chinese enterprises by foreign companies by virtue of the excuse of intellectual property right which happened frequently in recent years, we realize that intellectual property right protection has been a key tool in competition among countries and enterprises from a good mechanism that accelerates technical innovation. Since the late 20th century, intellectual property rights have been the method to compete with advantages among countries and enterprises. Some countries, and especially the governments and enterprises of developed countries, regard intellectual property right as the 4th resource apart from personnel, assets and objects, and make it a key means to occupy the commanding height of economy. They construct various patent offensives and defending systems and create a new market monopoly via the patent right and other intellectual property rights, so as to control their opponents to gain the biggest economic benefits according to different countries and regions. In such background, Hongyuan suffered a calamity- being filed a lawsuit to the court upon the patent infringement. After 6-year efforts, OSRAM’s invention patent proves invalid and all the claims have been rebutted by the court.

After such an endless and difficult process, we feel delighted that Hongyuan was supported by leaders of the State and Municipality and many of them came to inspect and guide our technical innovation in person.We realize that China’s enterprise and especially China’s private-owned enterprises must be brave in facing the powerful opponents and must have a good understanding of the intellectual property right system and its rules. Also, they must be able to take advantage of such rule if they want to succeed in the international competition situation. Just as the old saying goes, the brave one will win in the fierce competition, which suitably demonstrates the great spirit of Li Ke and his team in forging ahead for national industry and national brand despite the troubles. Over the 6 years, the OSRAM dispute affected the Hongyuan induction lamp’s development pace and blocked its market promotion which led to a chaotic market order and fake products. As for OSRAM in the dispute, it meant little to fail but for Hongyuan, it was a catastrophe. How we should ponder the title online “the intellectual property patent dispute between China and Germany” China wins? China is a country that stands for emerging nations, developing countries and is a newcomer to handle intellectual property right. We cannot surpass it on the ground that Germany has a 200-year-long experience in the defense of intellectual property right with many patents and talents. Li Ke once said, “We are a kid to compete with an adult”. As a result, the winner goes to China. And we can regard it as a victory of a developing country over developed country. "Action speaks louder than words”. It is the just law that helps Hongyuan to win the patent lawsuit with OSRAM.

Induction lamp, the new illuminant researched and developed by Hongyuan

Let’s look back to early 2000. At that time, the domestic lighting industry was that small scale enterprise, low industry cluster, low technical content, weak risk resistance capacity, low added value of products and low profits. Many enterprises are original equipment manufacturers and could not compete with brands overseas. Even if Hongyuan began to take shape, it also faced some practical problems such as growing raw materials price or high business costs. Chairman LI Weide, with years of business experiences, acutely perceived that energy-saving would be the last national condition industry. Li Ke affirmed that China was one of the countries that had lowest parc per capita in the world. Energy consumption was half of the world’s level per capita with energy utilization efficiency about 30% which was lower 10% than that of developed countries; output value energy consumption two times of the world to be one of the highest worldwide. In order to connect lighting and energy-saving, Li Ke decided to vitalize the enterprise through science and technology and develop energy-saving lighting products. Li Ke led the R&D personnel successively to develop solar energy technology and Nanotechnology. After he saw the information reported on the international lighting journal about “Chairman of Northern Europe Lighting Association predicted that the lighting development trend is the products with integrated circuit 20 years later”, he immediately set up the high-tech R&D center and hired talents of micro-electronics and electric light source, invested thousands of millions of funds as cost of scientific research, also purchased advanced experiment equipment and testing instruments, which provided highly developed international technical hardware and software for the high-tech R&D center. Finally, Li Ke formulated the topic of developing induction lamp and integrated a circuit specialized for induction lamps, which indicated that Li Ke and his R&D team had to face a new technical challenge and meant that he would usher in a road that on one had ever walked across.

During the process of developing micro-electronics, general manager Li and his engineering technicians once denied the designs one by one for many times and constantly made new exploration and expanded the design ideas. After their design made a new breakthrough, Li continued to transfer the technical design theories to the Hongyuan overseas trial base to conduct small batch of packaging. After transporting the sample packaging to R&D center, design technicians felt a non-confidence due to the lack of ideal sole effect of abnormal power protection. But Li kept his chin up and told the technicians that they shouldn’t cower and believed that they would surely overcome the difficulty. Li decided to turn the outside of an integrated circuit and improved the former design idea. Finally, they succeeded in first applying the integrated circuit technique and magnetic induction technology into ballast specialized for induction lamps in the lighting field. After the verification of the Ministry of Science and Technology Shanghai Science and Technology Information Institute, their achievement was in a leading position worldwide and the result also was passed the testing of State Lighting Source Testing Center. In the same year, the invention was applied for 15 patents at home and abroad.

In order to improve the lighting effect of the induction lamp, Li led his R&D technicians to innovatively adopt triphosphor fluorescent powder and water-powder coating to shape a unique operational method after a period of arduous trial and efforts. Such means not only improved the lighting color but also efficiently improved the light color and rendering of the lamp and increased luminous flux maintenance and use term after adopting flourescent material with appropriate grain dimension and narrow-distributed grains. In addition, during the long R&D research process, Hongyuan technical team also successively overcame and handled a series of technical difficulties.

——Use specially-made amalgam alloy and auxiliary amalgam technology to light up the lamp in the low temperature of -40℃ on the basis of long-time tightness of glass tube.

——The technology includes a specially-made amalgam alloy, mixed inert gases and high-quality triphosphor fluorescent powder to let the lamp always maintain over 90% nominal light flux and ideal light effect in the temperature scope of -40℃ to 125℃.

——Because the induction lamp is particular in electronic circuit, the Company developed a specialized chip and designed advanced a peripheral electron circuit so as to make the induction lamp work normally and ensure the use term over 0.1 million hours.

——The inductor of the induction lamp is unique in design. Even the magnetic permeability, magnetic displacement, high frequency response and Curie temperature point, inductance and electro-magnetic induction design materials all reach strict matching ratio.

——Advanced power anti-interference technology and high frequent radiation shield obstruct the interference of circuit and the color frequency, harmonic wave and conductivity among peripheral electric equipment.

——High borosilicate glass jointing and bending technology with melting point of 1600 degrees and advanced shell mechanical molding device technology

After overcoming the above technical difficulties, the Hongyuan induction lamps include features of over-long use term, high energy-saving, high reliability, high power rate factor, high light effect, high color rendering, low harmonic content, staring at a low temperature, steady power delivery, wide temperature range and no flashing in light, especially its radio disturbance characteristics absolutely matching IEC standards.

LVDThe successful invention of the LVD induction lamp won high recognition and care.

At that time, few people understood induction lamp. In order to promote it and to let more people get to know such new technical products, the Company took part in almost all the lighting fairs including Germany, US, Japan, UAE, Australia as well as domestic Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. We can say that Hongyuan LVD became the spotlight of all the fairs, from which we know that the successful invention of the LVD induction lamp was a great hit among the key superpowers in the high-tech fields for the first time.

Meanwhile, media at home and abroad reported it. The famous British Lighting Journal said Hongyuan induction lamp overcame the unstable technique prevailing in the west world for long time and made a new breakthrough in China. In June 2003, Guangdong Lighting Electric Instrument Journal wrote that Pride of China’s Lighting Industry- Shanghai Hongyuan Successfully Developed Induction Lamps that Lead the World.

December 9, 2003, Consumption Daily wrote an article called Key Scientific and Technological Achievement in China’s Lighting Industry: Shanghai Hongyuan Successfully Developed the Internationally Advanced Induction Lamp.

February 3, 2004, Wen Hui Bao wrote an article entitled Lighting Get Access to Chip Era and appraised that LVD induction will lead a new revolution in the lighting industry.

February 19, 2004, Shanghai Economics Journal wrote an article about China’s Edison Lights Up Lighting Revolution- General Manager Li Weide of Hongyuan Lighting.

April 27, 2004, Mr. Shen, consultant of International Electric Lighting Academic Committee and reputed president of Japanese Lighting Association came to visit Shanghai Hongyuan accompanied by Professor Chen Dahua, president of Fudan University Electric Lighting Institute. He praised that LVD induction lamp was a new lighting invention that surpassed the world-class level

May 8, 2004, the Liberation Daily wrote the following article An Invention that Surmounts World Lighting Technology and introduced the LVD induction lamp which was developed and put into industrialized production, filling the blank of global lighting technology.

July 2004, Albany Times Union reported the legend lamp of Hongyuan.

November 11, 2004, Lin Zongtang, director of China’s Brand Strategy Promotion Committee came to visit the company and wrote an inscription saying “the national light illuminates the whole world”.

In 2004, the Hongyuan induction lamp won the gold medal among 3,000 contesting enterprises and products of Industrial Exposition in Shanghai. Many famous specialists and scholars including Morris Strong, the UN Under-Secretary-General and Eric, President of Royal Academy of Engineering, spoke highly of Hongyuan induction lamps and said that induction lamp had a broad development potential space and would make great contributions to society in terms of energy-saving and intelligence lighting.

The Britain Lighting Engineering Journal praises, "Hongyuan’s electromagnetic inductive lamp has surpassed the Western unsteady technology."

In the 20th electric light meeting in France (2004), Shanghai Hongyuan, the special representative, was the keynote speaker in the meeting. In this meeting, the technology of Hongyuan’s electromagnetic inductive lamp was praised by experts from various nations, including Doctor Jeff--the chief of the American Lighting Association. In the World Engineer Meeting of 2004, two technological papers of Shanghai Hongyuan are compiled into collected papers of the organizing committee. The Commission International Eclairage (CIE) decided to popularize Hongyuan’s electromagnetic inductive lamp (as an international energy-saving lighting product) to the whole world.

In 2005, Hongyuan’s induction lamp passed the South Korean KETI certification. It was also listed as the "national energy-saving environment-friendly lighting source product", which was certified by the Chinese Energy-saving Association. Moreover, the LVD induction lamp 40-the-200W also passed CE certification. And the LVD electromagnetic inductive lamp has also been listed as "the national new key product". Besides, Hongyuan induction lamp has gone through China Compulsory Certification (CCC) and UL certification.

In 2006, leaders of Shanghai municipal Party committee and Shanghai government gave the following instructions: Firstly, the related governmental departments should give full support to the development of LVD induction lamp, because it is a high-tech product with full intellectual property rights; Secondly, LVD induction lamp should be listed into the "Eleventh five-year plan innovation plan"; Thirdly, Shanghai Municipal Economic Commission, Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Municipal Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau, Municipal Bureau of Finance should issue document that HUJINGJIE (2006) 579-LVD induction lamp is listed into the Recommendation List of Shanghai’s Energy-saving Products.

In 2007, the LVD induction lamp passed the SON certification in Nigeria; Then, the LVD induction lamp 277V-100W got the UL certification; Apart from this, the LVD induction lamp was recommended as an energy-saving product by Guizhou Province, which was jointly issued as document by Guizhou Economic and Trade Commission, Guizhou Construction Department, Guizhou Technology Department and Guizhou Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau.

In 2008, the LVD induction lamp was honored with the title of "high-quality product of Shanghai lighting electric appliance industry"; Moreover, the Tianjin Municipal Economic Commission issued documents stating that Hongyuan company’s LVD induction lamp was listed into the Recommendation List of Tianjin Advanced Practical Energy-saving Technology Products; Then, Hongyuan company’s product passed the GMC certification; Finally, LVD induction lamp passed SON certification in Africa this year.

In2009,LVD induction lamp 347V/40W,80W,120W,150W,200W;277V/80W,120W,150W,200W passed the UL certification; Then Hongyuan "LVD solar energy induction lamp lighting system" was honored as the top class of Shanghai Personnel’s Excellence and Reasonable Energy-saving and Emission-reduction Suggestions; Besides, Hongyuan’s "LVD solar energy induction lamp" was honored as the top class of Personnel Technological Innovation Achievement in the 22th Shanghai Excellent Invention Tryout; Then, the LVD brand was registered in Brazil; Moreover, the LVD Induction Lamp jointly compiled by Shanghai Hongyuan lighting electric appliance CO. LTD and Fudan University Electric Light Source Institute was published; and the LVD induction lamp was listed as the Shanghai Brand of Independent Innovation; Finally, Hongyuan LVD-BX01 series explosion -proof light got the explosion-proof certification.

In 2010, the design of LVD electromagnetic induction lamp (induction lamp) in Hongyuan Company was proposed as the Shanghai top brand of 2009. The four type of lamps including LVD-GC22121-80W，LVD-GC22141-120W，LVD-GC22141-150W，LVD-22141-200W had access to the GS certification；Nine types of 40-300W induction lamps in the series of LVD-WJ220/50 have been approved by CE-EMC; Solar induction lamps like LVD-WJ24V-40WDZ DC24V 40W got the national key new product certification approved by Ministry of Science and Technology、Environmental Protection Department、Commerce Department and AQSIQ；LVD induction lamp with 40~300W got CE certification（on the lower voltage ranges）; the China Quality Certification Center（acronymed as CQC）held the signing and awarding ceremony to celebrate the low-carbon system（ISO14064）in Shanghai Hongyuan Lighting & Electric Equipment Company Ltd as pilot enterprise in Shanghai. The two parties signed the cooperation frame agreement on low-carbon technology service. The low-carbon management in enterprise is based on the international standard ISO14064 and the management of the greenhouse gas emissions is included into the routine work, ushering in the low-carbon development pattern of Chinese lamp companies；Approved by the State Trademark Bureau, the trademark of “LVD” for the series of induction lamp in Shanghai Hongyuan Lighting & Electric Equipment Company Ltd passed the trademark registration，and received access to the registered trademark certification approved by the State Trademark Bureau; The LVD induction lamp city energy-saving illumination control system invented by Li Weide in Shanghai Hongyuan Lighting & Electric Equipment Company Ltd won first prize in the third Shanghai excellent workers’ technological innovation and the 23rd Shanghai excellent innovation gold award.

Hongyuan applied for one hundred and sixteen patents in the areas of invention, practice and outlook from 2003 to 2011; LVD induction lamp won more than one hundred various awards.

With strictly professional technologies, as well as profound development and manufacturing experience, Hongyuan was the advocate and drafter of the induction lamp national standard in that period. In 2007, national standards for “Self-ballasted electrodeless fluorescent lamps for general lighting services--Performance requirements” were formulated under the guidance of Hongyuan, with Standard Number GB/T21091-2007; in 2008 national standards for “Self-ballasted electrodeless fluorescent lamps for general lighting services--Performance requirements” were formulated under the guidance of Hongyuan, with Standard Number GB/T21554-2008; in 2006, Hongyuan participated in the formulation of industry standards for “AC-supplied electronic ballasts for electrodeless fluorescent lamps”, with Standard number as QB/T2871-2007; in 2008, Hongyuan participated in the formulation of industry standards for “Single-capped electrodeless fluorescent lamps”, with Standard Number QB/T2938-2008; in 2003, Hongyuan formulated the company standard of “Single-capped electrodeless fluorescent lamps”, with Standard Number Q/IDJW02-2008; in 2003, Hongyuan formulated the company standard of “AC-supplied electronic ballasts for electrodeless fluorescent lamps”, with Standard Number Q/IDJW03-2008; in 2005, Hongyuan came up with company standard of “Self-ballasted electrodeless fluorescent lamps”, with Standard Number Q/IDJW04-2008. At the same time, in April 2009, as the first work to introduce professional technologies of induction lamp ever, the “LVD Induction Lamp” document was compiled by an expert team led by Hongyuan, published by Fudan University Press, issuing to the whole world. Furthermore, a team of experts and technicians from Hongyuan successively published dozens of technical papers related to the induction lamp, in magazines and large academic exchange home and abroad, especially in France, Russia, Britain and South Korea as well as at meetings like LUXPACIFICA5th, the Eleventh Mainland and Taiwan Lighting Technology Seminar, the World Engineers’ Convention 2004, the 10th International Symposium on Science and Technology of Light-sources, the 2005 International Conference of China Green lights, and Practical Manual on Electricity and Light Resource etc., causing great sensation and bringing broad technical consensus on the promotion and usage of new generation energy-efficient lighting products, i.e. induction lamp, at a world level.

By inventing the induction lamp, Shanghai Hongyuan fills the blank in China and into the world lighting industry as a whole, by enhancing technology and driving development of the world lighting industry. A principal of Intellectual Property Development Research center, the State Intellectual Property Office, pointed out that: “in the international market, foreign companies will bash their Chinese competitors by making use of intellectual property in case of finding Chinese products which can bring threaten to them.” Precisely because of induction lamp’s rising and developing by Hongyuan, OSRAM, one of the three global lighting giants, spotted covetously the emerging technology of this project, wanting to appropriate the high-tech fruits owned by Hongyuan to itself by virtue of its giant position. After a six-year litigation journey, Hongyuan astonishes OSRAM by their resilience, strengthening positions and representing a Hongyuan spirit by going through a tortuous journey to finally defeat the what was once industry giant in the international lighting area.

“Bitter cold adds keen fragrance to plum blossom”, in the six years, Hongyuan went through a road of barriers and difficulties with the belief of law and justice. With actions speaking louder than words, we succeed in the journey with all our efforts having to defend our fruits. Through this infringement action, we became fully aware that: in the surviving and developing process, companies are often confronted by competition and challenged on grounds of intellectual property, especially when companies already have some achievements. Facing competition and challenges, we can’t retreat because of timidity; otherwise, we will be controlled by others, even facing a situation of extinction. In order to successfully cope with competition and challenges, our company starts a patent oriented layout in the early period of research and development, which establishes the foundation for victory. President Li used to say that we have to invent our own intellectual property on the basis of respecting the intellectual property of others, safeguarding our lawful rights and interests by effectively making use of intellectual property rules.