社會網絡分析方法探討LED公司專利侵權訴訟關係之角色與位置

Exploring Roles ＆ Positions of LED Companies Involved in Patent Infringement Litigations —A Social Network Analysis

智慧財產權為科技產業公司重要財產，為保護智慧財產所應採取的法律策略時，應綜合評估各項資訊，而以商業目的考量，以佈局方式取得最佳利益。競爭對手為取得最佳利益，可能採取提起專利侵權訴訟等方式，製造生產障礙，取得談專利授權的談判地位等。另外，被多數公司選擇為訴訟的專利標的，亦能從中發現該專利所具有的價值。因為專利訴訟常為高科技公司採取的重要競爭策略，如何辨識企業為何發動專利訴訟的意圖是制訂訴訟策略的重要議題。本研究蒐集LED產業的專利權侵權訴訟資料並形成分析的資料集，本文以上歸納，透過109筆訴訟案件經過篩選後，將訴訟筆數縮減為64筆以及24家公司進行整理分析，結合敘述性統計與社會網絡分析辨識專利權侵權訴訟行動者的訴訟意圖，專利訴訟網絡中的向外程度中心性與特徵向量中心性形成主動性質的意圖指標、向內程度中心性為被動性意圖指標，利用此二種主動性（攻擊方）與被動性（防禦方）指標可以將24家訴訟公司歸類成四種角色，包括主要玩家、專利蟑螂、受害者和旁觀者，以瞭解公司的訴訟意圖並探討訴訟專利的價值，發現主要玩家有訴訟優勢建議採取訴訟策略，專利蟑螂不易由反訴方式制衡，旁觀者則建議透過併購專利方式強化重要性。

Intellectual properties are the most important intangible assets of high-tech companies. When high tech companies want to initiate any legal action in protecting their intellectual properties, they tend to take the business strategies and goals into consideration, hoping to gain the best interest for their entities. For example, competitors may start patent infringement lawsuits to create roadblocks for production; and as a result, they will establish an advantageous position in negotiating the patent royalties. Further, the underlying value of a patent can be evaluated by how often this patent is chosen as the target for infringement lawsuits. Patent litigation is an important competitive strategy leveraged by high-tech companies. Therefore, it is important to understand the intention of companies that bring the action of patent litigation. In this study, the major data set is collected from patent infringement lawsuits in the LED (Liquid Emitting Diode) industry. Through a careful selection process, 64 lawsuits and 24 companies have been further analyzed and studied for this paper. The motivations of the patent litigation initiators are identified by the descriptive statistics and the impact of social network. The “out-degree centrality” and “eigenvector centrality” in the patent litigation network form the active intent index; on the other hand, “in-degree centrality” forms the passive intent index. This study utilizes the active intent index (the offensive) and the passive intent index (the offensive) to categorize the 24 companies into four distinct roles in the litigation: key players, patent trolls, victims and bystanders. The purpose of conducting such analysis is to understand high-tech companies’ motivation of initiating litigations and the underlying value of patents in those cases. This analysis concludes three major findings. First, key players usually take litigation as a part of business strategies and occupy an advantageous position. Secondly, patent trolls are not intimidated by counterclaims or counter-lawsuits. And thirdly, the strategy of bystanders is to increase the value of their patent portfolios by acquiring the related patents.