1. Patent sand table -- A "table" to understand the patent layout of smart home

Through index screening and manual screening of the retrieved patent documents, important patent documents in the field of smart home are obtained, and these important patent documents are expressed in the form of patent map or patent sand table, as shown in the figure below.

FIG. 1 Patented sand table diagram of important Patents

(Note: Blue for LG, orange for Samsung, peach for Google, green for Philips)

It can be seen from the patent sandbox diagram that security system, control system, security server and security network are technical hotspots, and there are many important patents distributed.In the field of smart home security and network subfields of patent layout is relatively dense, innovation and improvement is relatively more.The layout characteristics of the main applicants have their own personalities and differences.LG and Samsung have more important patents for smart home patent layouts mentioned above in terms of hot directions, security systems and security networks.LG has obvious advantages in display signals, clients, Internet, and Samsung in electronic messaging, device addresses, wall switches, telemedicine services, and medical detection technology.Thus it can be seen that LG has more patents in networking and control classification, Samsung has more patents in networking and control technology, telemedicine diagnosis and nursing system classification, and the two companies have fewer important patents in home environment control technology.The reason may be that, on the one hand, there is no breakthrough in the field of family environmental control technology; on the other hand, it may also be that the family environmental control technology is relatively new and there are few publicly disclosed patent technologies.

Ii. Conclusion: During the period of rapid growth, the smart home should focus on layout and avoid risks

This report on the basis of the research of intelligent household technology research and development background, analysis of the global technology development trend in the field of smart home, and the important technology in the field of the applicant for a patent and points of the application for a patent for a targeted focus on in-depth analysis, objective show intelligent household areas around the world and China's patent layout present situation and the forefront of the direction in the field of smart home.Through the above analysis, it is summarized as follows:

1. The technology related to smart home worldwide is currently in the stage of rapid development.As the main patent applicants, large multinational household appliance companies such as LG, Samsung, Haier, Midea and Gree mainly focus on networking and control technology and intelligent home appliance terminal technology, and have an advantageous position in both the number of patent applications and patent layout.

In China, smart home technology research and development is in full gear, Chinese enterprises are focusing on a number of sub-areas of the layout.Chengdu Kechuang City Technology Co., Ltd. and Xiaomi have more patent applications in various fields of smart home technology.Sun Yat-sen University has a Research center for the Internet of Things, which focuses on the research and development of products related to the Internet of Things and technological breakthroughs.Sun Yat-sen University has applied for many patents in smart home, especially in intelligent home appliance terminal technology, security prevention technology and telemedicine diagnosis and nursing system.

2. The number of patent applications for smart home has entered a period of rapid growth since 2013, especially the breakthrough growth in 2015.With the continuous development of smart home technology, the number of patent applications will continue to grow until the technology truly enters industrialization.

3. From the perspective of patent efficiency in the field of overall and detailed classification, Samsung, LG and Haier have relatively high patent efficiency due to their early application time;Judging by the number of patent applications under review, Midea, Changhong and Haier are all making continuous technological improvements and patent layouts.On the whole, the number of patent applications in the valid state, the number of patent applications in the pending state and the number of patent applications in the invalid state are basically the same in China, which are 34.7%, 34.0% and 31.3% respectively.

4. Analyzed from the selected important patents, 198 important patents were selected in the field of smart home, among which there were 64 basic patents and 27 high-risk patents.The basic patents mainly focus on the sub-fields of networking and control and intelligent home appliance terminal. These sub-fields are the basic technologies of smart home, so the number of cited patents is large and the application time is earlier.High-risk patents mainly focus on networking and control, intelligent home appliance terminal and home environment control.The appearance of smart home promotes the development of the sub-field of network communication and mode control, and puts forward higher requirements for environmental perception, namely sensors. Therefore, the patent layout in the sub-field is relatively mature.The layout of products in the sub-areas of network communication and mode control has high risks and needs to be guarded against.

Three, suggestions: hold the "patent treasure book", focus on technical hot spots and blank points

With the development and rise of cloud computing, big data, Internet of Things and other popular technologies, the smart home develops with them. Various technology, Internet and traditional home appliance companies continue to invest in research and development and open up their own markets.This report from the patent trend analysis and key patent analysis, in-depth mining technology hot spots and technical gaps, give patent navigation advice.

1. Focus on the cloud computing base

At present, cloud computing technology smart home manufacturers have Haier, iot sensor.Haier mainly considers from the whole smart community, while iot sensor is the first enterprise at home and abroad to introduce cloud services into the smart home.Although the patents of cloud computing technology applied in smart home have some layout, the number of patents is not large.Cloud computing technology can not only see what's happening in your home in real time, but also trace it back to its source.For example, if someone intrudes into the home, even if the suspect escapes, according to the response time of various sensors, the accurate video recording of the time period can be called up, providing the police with the basis for solving the case.Similarly, through the overall analysis of the data of all kinds of smart sockets and smart switches in the home, we can realize the energy control of the home, and work out an energy-saving, environment-friendly, convenient and comfortable lighting use plan for home appliances.Therefore, cloud computing technology has a good prospect in the field of smart home. At present, enterprises can seize the opportunity to carry out technology research and development and patent layout to keep up with the pace of technological development.

2. Strengthen the research and development of environmental control technology

Nowadays, decoration pollution, haze, vehicle exhaust and other environmental problems are becoming more and more serious, and people's requirements for indoor environment are also gradually increasing.Consumers are more willing to try smart home products with convenient and comfortable performance. The demand for smart air purifiers, floor cleaners and other robots will increase, and the importance of fresh air system will also be greatly enhanced.Busy work and life lead to the owner can not always monitor the indoor environmental conditions.For example, the environment control can be upgraded to an intelligent level: the smart home system can automatically sense and monitor indoor temperature, humidity, air quality, etc., and make corresponding adjustments, so that the consumption experience will be improved.Companies such as Samsung and Google, keenly aware of this need, have increased their patent portfolios in environmental control in recent years, with filing dates mostly between 2016 and 2017.This field of fine classification belongs to the emerging sub-technology field, and all enterprises, especially new enterprises, can strengthen the research and development of environmental control technology, so as to seize the market of environmental control technology and make patent layout and prevention.

3. Actively invest in the research and development of intelligent security technology

In recent years, especially in the United States, intelligent security has a tendency to replace and subvert traditional security.At present, there are a lot of intelligent security products on the market.Mijia released the Little White smart camera last year, in addition to the traditional camera, night vision, monitoring functions, but also added a voice interaction function, the product integration, richer and more powerful features.Dudu E home dudu smart box set infrared security, air detection, smoke alarm three in one, can not only control home appliances, and can achieve environmental monitoring, but also infrared detection indoor human activities, once outsiders into the situation, natural gas leakage, fire immediately alarm.At present, the total number of patent applications in the field of intelligent security is relatively small, but there are more important patents than other subfields.At present, the industry enterprises are optimistic about the direction and increase innovation, the existing patent layout also highlights that intelligent security is in the emerging rapid development period.In this case, increasing the patent layout of intelligent security plays an important role in protecting its own development and containing competitors.

4. Thoroughly explore patents and improve patent layout

At present, all major companies have some layout in the field of smart home. However, as consumers have higher and higher requirements for smart home, it is suggested that the applicant should focus on the core technology and basic technology at this stage, and carry out "fence type" patent mining and layout in advance.In terms of core technologies, all-round and multi-level patent protection should be formed. In terms of basic technologies, we should strive for the late-comer advantage of cross-licensing with competitors, so as to avoid missing the best application opportunity.

5. Attach importance to patent application and enhance the value of patent

The value of patents affects the core competitiveness of enterprises.In addition to strengthening technology research and development, the patent value should be enhanced from the following aspects: expanding the scope of independent claims protection, rationally distributing subordinate claims, and forming a well-structured system of claims protection;Excavate the innovation achievement deeply, enhance the patent layout height, form the strict patent chain or the patent network;The collaborative application of product type patent and method type patent forms a more complete patent protection system;The application scope of patent should be expanded according to the current situation of industry development and market prospect.

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