Bissell Files a Section 337 Investigation Against Tineco in the U.S.

On February 2, the American company Bissell filed an application with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) at its headquarters in Grand Rapids, Michigan, requesting to initiate a 337 investigation against Chinese companies.

Bissell claims that the following patents are infringed by China's Tineco Intelligence (and its affiliates):

U.S. Patent No. 10,820,769 (the '769 patent);

U.S. Patent No. 11,096,541 (541 patent);

U.S. Patent No. 11,122,949 (the '949 patent);

U.S. Patent No. 11,071,428 (428 patent);

U.S. Patent No. 11,076,735 (735 Patent):

The names of the Tineco branches that were sued are as follows:

* Tineco Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. of China

* TEK (Hong Kong) Science & Technology Ltd. of Hong Kong

* Tineco Intelligent, Inc. of Seattle, Washington

After these two years of trade friction, everyone should have some understanding of the 337 investigation.

The U.S. “Section 337” prohibits all unfair competition practices or any unfair trade practices in exporting products to the United States. The so-called unfair behavior specifically refers to: the product enters the United States through unfair competition or unfair behavior, or the owner, importer, or agent of the product sells the product in the U.S. market in an unfair manner, causing substantial damage or threat of damage to related U.S. industries, or hindering the establishment of U.S. related industries, or suppressing or manipulating U.S. commerce and trade, or infringing upon legal and valid U.S. trademarks and patents, or infringing the exclusive right to layout design of integrated circuit chips, or infringing upon U.S. law Other design rights protected, and related industries exist or are being established in the United States.

The most famous 337 investigation in the cleaning appliance industry was when iRobot sued 13 companies in the robot vacuum industry. In this incident, only Shenzhen's Yinxing Intelligent was tied, and many other companies lost money to iRobot or simply quit the robot vacuum industry. After the 337 investigation, many robot vacuum companies did not dare to export to the United States for a long time.

So can Bissell replicate iRobot's brilliant record this time?

Bissell is the leader in the North American market, and it is the absolute leader in the water machine market. The Crosswave series it released has created a new category. In the past few years, Bissell has been working hard to open up the Chinese market, but there has been no special progress. Unexpectedly, Bissell's hard floor washer product Crosswave has become a hit in cleaning appliances after being promoted by Tineco. In 2020, Bissell and Tineco's hard floor washer product Crosswave Washer is the only two brands on the market, and these two brands are also taking this opportunity to continuously conquer the city. According to rumors, Bissell's sales in China are close to 1 billion yuan.

Tineco's performance is even more impressive. The unit price per customer is RMB 3-4,000, and the shipment volume is 300,000 units a month at its peak. It now occupies 70% of the market share of China's hard floor washer market. The share price of Ecovacs Group has increased 12 times in 2020, and the share price has increased 12 times at its peak. The Tineco brand has also relied on the outstanding performance of this hard floor washer to become a model for domestic brands.

So where will things go next? What impact will this matter have on the industry?

First of all, hard floor washer is already the most important product line of Ecovacs Group. It can be expected that Tineco will not give in and will definitely respond to the lawsuit head-on.

Second, Tineco is likely to sue Bisheng in China. It is said that Bisheng did not apply for many patents in China in the early days.

Third, the pressure of public opinion. The Chinese market is no longer a dispensable market for Bissell, but a very important growth point. You can also see that since Trump came to power, the relationship between the two countries has been changing. In particular, public opinion is no longer friendly to foreign brands. As long as someone uses this matter to publicize it on the Internet, the brand and business that Bissell has finally established in China may take a huge blow. (Please refer to the Nike Xinjiang cotton incident)

What would be the impact if Bissell wins the lawsuit?

If Bissell wins 337, Tineco's sales in the United States will be somewhat affected. However, the sales share of the North American market is only a small part of Tineco's, and the main force is still in China. But for some other cross-border e-commerce companies and hard floor washer manufacturers in Shenzhen, the North American Amazon market will be a big trouble.

What if Bissell loses the lawsuit?

This time Bissell has shown all its cards in the United States. If it loses the lawsuit, hard floor washers of all sizes will enter the North American market through cross-border Amazon. In addition, Shark, which Bissell is most afraid of, can directly enter the hard floor washer industry without worrying about Bissell's patents.

On the first day of construction, the fun begins