Switching on to IP

• Pages: 7-8

In the 1990s, the mains tay of Feelux’s co mmercial

activity was its triple wavelength b ulb, a pro duct

that was s imilar t o, yet distinct from, those then

sold by other market le aders, such as Osra m and

Philips. T he company ’s order boo ks were f ull and

sales were expanding for this competitivel y

priced product. In 1994, however, Feel ux fell foul

of an overseas competito r that had copied its

technology and undercut its reve nues by selling

triple waveleng th bul bs at a fraction of Feelux’s

retail price – Feel ux was ch arging US$12 per unit

whereas the competito r w as s elling ident ical

units for US$3. Absent a patent or any other IP

right, the compa ny wa s un able to defend itself

against these preda tory practices – with devas-

tating conse quences. A y ear later, Feelux wa s

forced to shut down its manufact uring opera-

tions for trip le wavelength bulbs. To make matter s

worse, a numb er of companies dropp ed Feelux as

a suppli er of lighti ng components.

Bruised from these bitter ex periences an d recog-

nizing how vulne rable his company was withou t

an IP strategy, Mr. Noh resolved, from then on, to

“never devel op or produce produ cts without a

patent.” Today, the company is a champion of IP.

Through its extens ive research and develo pment

efforts, its com mitment to innovation and to the

use of IP, Feelux has emerged as a leading high-

end l ighting tech nology comp any. Feelux, “is po-

sitioning itself as one o f the most compe titive

electroni c and lighting companies in the world,”

notes M r. Noh.

Today, IP is a hallmark of Feelux ’s business cu l-

ture. O n arrival, new employ ees are ver sed in the

company ’s approach to I P. Twice each year, a ll

employee s are offere d IP r ights traini ng pro -

grams. The company has developed a database

of its IP as sets, includi ng details of ex isting patent

holding s, pate nt appl ications, other ongoing

project s and ide as submit ted by emp loyees. This

provides a bird’s eye view of the s tatus of the

company ’s IP holdi ngs.

Feelux ha s its own IP depar tment, whic h enables

it to cut costs and ensure efficien t handlin g and

managemen t of its IP interests. The depart ment’s

experti se offers a cost-effe ctive alternative to pay-

ing patent attorneys’ fe es, gene rating significant

savings for the company. The IP depart ment files

the company ’s trademar k and design applica-

tions d irectly, monitor s uses of these rights, iden-

tifies infringi ng activit y and gen erally overse es

the com pany’s branding strateg y to ensure its

trademark s remain disti nctive and do n ot be-

come gen eric.

The I P culture chara cterizing Feelux’s busines s

operation s encou rages employees to su bmit i n-

novative i deas to weekly “ideas m eetings”. An em-

ployee compe nsation system, int roduced in 2008,

further encourag es innov ation by rewarding the

employee -inventor. Under the syst em, every em-

ployee carries a specia l “idea” no tebook in which

to record new ideas. The se are review ed at week-

ly meetings. Emp loyee engagement in this

process is refl ected in performan ce assess ments,

SWITCHING ON

TO IP

7

When Mr. Noh Si Chung set up hi s business i n Yangju City, Repu blic of Kore a (ROK), i n the mid-1 970s, in-

tellectu al proper ty (IP) was no t at the forefro nt of his mind. His company, Feelux Lighting, suffered the

consequen ces of this in the 199 0s, when it found it was powerless to fend off c ompetition fro m an over-

seas compet itor that undercut its business by imitati ng its most successfu l product. This bitter ex perience

triggered Mr. Noh’s interest in I P and brought about a transfo rmation in his company’s approac h to man-

aging inn ovation and IP. This artic le takes a clo ser look at th e experiences of this medium -sized company

and the less ons it learned about the impo rtance of integrat ing IP into its busin ess strat egy to drive its

commercial success in the highly competitive lighting sec tor.

Photos: Feelux Lighting

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Image from Feelux

Lighting Museum’s

Campaign to raise

awareness about the

seriousness of lighting

pollution.