Relevant data show that in recent years, the annual sales revenue of China's mould manufacturing industry is more than 180 billion yuan. In the die manufacturing industry, automobile panel stamping die and optical plastic forming die are widely used. In these two areas, the number of patent applications of Chinese enterprises has increased rapidly in recent years, but compared with foreign giants, there is still a certain gap between domestic enterprises. Facing the patent matrix laid down by international giants, experts suggest that domestic enterprises should increase investment in personnel training, mold design and manufacturing refinement, and improve their technical strength and patent reserves through continuous innovation to enhance the competitiveness of enterprises.
Rapid Rise of Chinese Enterprises
In recent years, with the rapid development of China's automotive and electronic market, the die market has also shown a vigorous development. In particular, many internationally renowned die manufacturers, relying on their technological advantages in automobile panel stamping die, injection mold and other fields, have seized the Chinese mold market, and formed a "encirclement" situation for Chinese enterprises.
In order to understand the current situation and patent distribution in the field of die and mould industry, the Patent Office of the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) and the Department of Mechanical Invention Review (MIR) implemented the project "Patent Technology Analysis of Die and Mold Industry" in 2014. Researchers of this research group told our reporter that in the two major fields of automobile panel stamping die and optical plastic forming die, Chinese enterprises belong to the rising star.
"As of July 31, 2014, in the field of automotive panel stamping dies, the number of patent applications from domestic applicants has increased rapidly. 
As a rising star, China's die and mold enterprises have great potential for future development. However, at present, in the field of die and mold, Chinese enterprises are still in the initial stage. Although the number of patent applications is growing rapidly, the patent strength is still unable to compete with foreign giants. Researchers of the research group said.
Multinational giants have obvious advantages
It is known that in the field of die and mold technology, the advantages of foreign enterprises are very obvious. As of July 31, 2014, applicants filed 1 625 related patent applications worldwide for optical plastics molds, of which 103 were filed by Olympus, 86 by Kodak and 40 by Johnson & Johnson; and 440 by applicants in China. But in the Chinese market, there is only one Chinese enterprise in the top ten enterprises in the number of patent applications.
In the interview, the reporter learned that for a long time, enterprises in Japan, Germany, the United States and other countries have monopolized the global mold market by virtue of the technological advantages of mold production. These giants have maintained a leading position in the development of high-precision and composite dies, especially in die design and manufacturing technology. Olympus, founded in 1919, is an early enterprise involved in optical lens. In the course of its development, through technological innovation, it constantly adjusts and improves the local structure of the die to improve the precision of the die forming technology. It is through positive innovation that Olympus has become the largest patent application enterprise in the global die and mould industry, and also the largest market share enterprise in this field.
Compared with Olympus, Johnson & Johnson has not been involved in the field of optical plastic moulding technology for a long time, but the means of patent operation are very mature. "Because of the small number of patents in the field of die and mould, Johnson & Johnson often submits multiple patent applications for an invention technology, which are closely linked to each other in order to strengthen patent protection. For example, in 1995, Johnson & Johnson has 14 patent applications to protect the entire process of contact lens processing. Introduce the research group.
Strengthen innovation and win initiative
Facing the patent "matrix" already laid down by international giants such as Honda, Toyota, General Motors, Olympus and Johnson & Johnson in the field of mould, what challenges are faced by Chinese enterprises as rising stars, and how to deal with them?
"China started relatively late in the field of die and mould, and there is a certain gap between China and foreign giants in terms of technology research and development and patent layout. For example, in the research and development of automobile die technology, Honda, Toyota, General Motors and other enterprises occupy an important position. 
In view of this situation, we believes that the relevant enterprises in China should strengthen the research and development of core technology in the die field, constantly improve the level of process manufacturing, and strive to develop some fine and competitive die technology. In addition, in the process of product research and development, domestic enterprises should actively carry out patent distribution in domestic and foreign markets.
In the field of optical plastic moulding, domestic enterprises are in the initial stage of technological research and development and patent layout. "Domestic enterprises should pay more attention to die technology and patent layout. While increasing R&D investment, they should actively cooperate with scientific research institutes to jointly develop related technologies." 
In view of the development status of Chinese enterprises in the field of die and mould, the research team has put forward more specific development proposals for domestic enterprises. "Fine manufacturing and information management of die technology will be the future development direction." Researchers from the Die and Mould Research Group said that on the one hand, domestic enterprises should learn from the advanced technology of European and American enterprises; on the other hand, they should strengthen cooperation among enterprises to continuously improve their competitiveness; on the other hand, relevant government departments should also introduce corresponding supporting policies to support and guide enterprises to continuously increase innovation and actively carry out patent distribution. 

Current Situation of Die and plastik injection moulding Enterprises in China