Appotronics receives 25 million yuan in patent licensing fees from XGIMI

On September 2, Shenzhen Appotronics Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Appotronics") issued an announcement stating that the company has recently signed a "Patent License Agreement" and a "Strategic Cooperation Agreement" with Chengdu Xgimi Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Xgimi Technology").

According to the agreement, Lightpeak Technology agreed to authorize Xgimi Technology to implement the designated patents, and Xgimi Technology will pay Lightpeak Technology a total of RMB 25 million in patent license fees over five years. In addition, Xgimi Technology will leverage the R&D capabilities of Lightpeak Technology to develop its laser ultra-short-throw projection products, and will give priority to purchasing a certain amount of core component products from Lightpeak Technology. The strategic cooperation period is 5.5 years, and a one-time NRE fee of RMB 5 million will be paid.

It is reported that Fengmi Technology, a subsidiary of Lightpeak Technology, filed a patent lawsuit with the Tianjin Third Intermediate People's Court in June this year, accusing XGIMI Technology and XGIMI Vision of patent infringement, and requesting the court to immediately stop the sale and promise to sell the alleged infringing products and claim RMB 46 million. The alleged infringing products, the Z6 series projectors, include Z6 and Z6X, and the patent involved is the patent No. ZL201110086731.9 held by Lightpeak Technology (i.e. "High brightness excitation method and light-emitting device based on light wavelength conversion").

According to the 2019 financial report released by Appotronic, in 2019, the R&D team of Appotronic increased to 387 people, accounting for 31% of the company's total employees; the annual R&D expenses were 202 million yuan, accounting for 10.19% of the operating income, an increase of 48.60% compared with 2018; in terms of patents, as of December 31, 2019, the company has been granted 908 patents worldwide, and the patents for the underlying key architecture technology of fluorescent laser light sources have been cited more than 400 times worldwide. In addition, Appotronic stated at the performance briefing that the company has formed a strong core device R&D capability and a high threshold for patent protection.