Dahua Attacks Hikvision

This subject is too funny. Dahua is acting like a petulant child with its wild and unsubstantiated accusations and threats. It's almost as if Todd has his hand in this.

Spying? Who needs that when you can routinely buy source codes on either company's products on internet if you know some Chinese. Ex or current employees regularly sell the stuff on China's "underground" internet.

Although they did give fair warning...

Time will show that all competitors will demise against the east. Do you really think Hikvision or Dahua is here to play? Eventually they will distribute the technology in demand from all markets.

Goodbye UTC, Tyco...better change your strategy. Change is in the air.

Update: We have added in links to Dahua's patent / applications for Analog HD in China.

• One kind of high-definition video signal transmission method and apparatus (Granted 2014)
• A Method and apparatus for high-definition video simulation (Application 2012, not yet granted)
• An analog video signal format determination system, method and related apparatus (Application 2012, not yet granted)

Plus, here is Google's listing of all Dahua's patents / applications in China.

This previously issued statement from Techpoint bears re-examination in light of recent events.

"We implemented TVI very differently from CVI specifically to work around the CVI patents and even improve the performances. For example, we implemented some special methods so that our 1080P30 transmission is the same as our 720P30 transmission and thus is superior to CVI's transmission at 1080P30. And yes, we are actually looking into several patents for TVI currently."

Assuming that the Rockoff arranged site visit(s) also occurred anywhere around or during this development time, it's only natural that Dahua's has some concern.

Developing 'new' technology to 'work around' an existing patented one is tricky business, as it's hard to tell how broadly a future court may interpret the original claim. The safest course is to work with the original holder see what they view as infringing. If this is not possible or desirable then one (in the U.S.) can ask the court to pre-emptively rule.

Entertaining. Not Chinese-specific behavior IMO. Think door look conglomerates. Kinda interesting the stories aren't smoother or more well packaged, regardless of their validity.

Has anyone actually tried TVI with CVI equipment and vice versa yet?

i remember seeing that CVI and AHD are about as compatible as NTSC is with PAL, meaning not much, but I don't think IPVM has published any CVI/TVI crosswiring results.

Not looking for a comprehensive test or anything, just a simple, "Yeah, we tried it. It don't work at all." would be fine. :)

Dahua and Hikvision are both, in part, owned by the Zhejiang Provincial government and both company's HQ's are located in Hangzhou - dubbed "the Silicon Valley of China". As such, I'd be highly skeptical that any legal action would be taken regardless of the public threats. Not only because of the connected nature of the companies - but also the intentional complexity of IP (Intellectual Property) laws in China and the lack of due process in the legal system.

A bit off topic, but I wanted to share. A great article that explains how China's government promotes corruption for small to medium sized enterprises, and then leverages that against companies once they become large enough to impact the government.

From the article:

"The key to understanding why is something I came up with and call the catch;

1) In China, corruption is allowed where it can be monitored, controlled, and won’t interfere with business.

2) If a business grows to the point where it has the potential to negatively impact the interests of the state, then corruption is imposed, whether or not it will interfere with business."

The key take away with regards to this thread and to buying Chinese products is this: understand that any company like Hikvision or Dahua that have a significant scale are answering directly to the Chinese government.

I don't have any idea - but in general when China began expanding economically State Owned Enterprises (SOE's) were abandoned in favor of Joint Ventures between the local governments of each province or city. So assuming that both Hikvision and Dahua received startup funding - either via tax incentives, build-to-lease land and factory structures, or just straight up cash - from the Zhejiang government I would assume their ownership structures would be similar.

With regards to Uniview - I honestly have very little knowledge about them. Never heard of them - and that's saying something as I previously worked with UTC Fire & Security (Lenel) in China for 4 years and we competed regularly with the stalworts of the security industry in China. Assuming they are a WFOE (Wholly Foreign Owned Enterprise) - which may or may not be the case at it appears they were purchased by Bain Capital Asia Fund in December of 2012 - they would still fall under many of the legal restrictions imposed on local companies. WFOE's operate in the same way as local companies with China's joining of the WTO in 2001 - they just require a significantly higher level of investment upon founding. As this was an acquisition, my guess is that Bain Capital already had a WFOE or joint-venture founded in China - and so the acquisition probably did not materially change the legal structure of Uniview, which I assume was founded as a local enterprise.

So in short - being a WFOE doesn't necessarily mean you will get the short end of the stick. It all depends.