Recently, our firm won the first instance of an administrative litigation case for invalidation of an invention patent, in which it is ruled that the invention patent should be comp...
Introduction In the chemical field, it is difficult to seek invalidation of a patent claiming to have achieved unexpected technical effect. This case provides a strategy for success...
Huawei and SolarEdge Reach a Global Patent Licensing Agreement to End Pending Litigation
Huawei announced a global patent licensing agreement with SolarEdge Technologies Inc. The agreement allows the use of the other party’s patented technology during the period of the agreement, which is made on the basis of the recognition of each other's innovation capabilities by the two companies.
This agreement includes cross-license and the terms regarding other rights, and facilitates the settlement of the pending patent litigations. The litigations between two parties in Germany and China will end soon.
It is understood that SolarEdge Technologies Inc., an Israel-based solar technology manufacturer, accused Huawei and German distributor Wattkraft of infringing its three patents involving solar inverter and optimizer technology. (IJiWei.com, May 22)
Trademark and Unfair Competition
Judgement Pronounced on Trademark Infringement and Unfair Competition Case Brought by "Haidilao" against "Xiaofangniu"
Haidilao, a Sichuan hot pot company known by innovative and pleasant services, sued Hebei Xiaofangniu for trademark infringement and unfair competition after the defendant was found advertising itself as the "Haidilao of the dish restaurants" in its restaurant decoration and Wechat official account.
Recently, the Primary People's Court of Dongcheng District of Beijing Municipality pronounced the judgement on this case, ordering Xiaofangniu to cease the acts involved, publicly eliminate the impact, and compensate Haidilao for its economic losses and litigation costs of CNY 950,000 (about USD 130,000). Neither of the two parties appealed, and the judgement is now effective. (Jingfawangshi, May 13)
Shanghai IP Court Pronounces the Final Judgment on the Trademark Infringement on 五芳斋(Wufangzhai)
Wufangzhai Company claimed to the court of first instance that "Wufangzhai" was founded in 1921. Its registered trademark enjoys wide popularity and was recognized as "China Time-honored Brand" and well-known trademark. In 2018, the officers of Jing'an District Administration for Market Regulation, Shanghai investigated the gift boxes printed with "五芳斋(Wufangzhai)" and other text and graphic trademarks sold by Suxiege Company. The Zongzi (a traditional Chinese rice dumpling) in the gift box involved were from an authorized agent of Wufangzhai, but Wufangzhai has never produced or authorized others to produce or sell such gift boxes.
The court of first instance held that the Zongzi in the gift box involved came from an authorized seller of Wufangzhai. Thus, the goods were genuine. Wufangzhai confirmed in the court trial that the vacuum-packed Zongzi in bulk were printed with the circular pattern of Mr. Wufangzhai and the production date, and the packaging, quality guarantee period, quality, etc. had no differences with those in the gift box. It can be seen that the use of basically the same logo as the registered trademark on the packaging of the gift box involved neither impact the trademark’s function of indicating the source nor cause ill impact on the quality guarantee function of the trademark. Therefore, Suxiege Company and Yingli Company did not infringe the rights of the trademarks No.9720610, No.10379873, and No.331907. While, Suxiege prominently marked the logos of "五芳(Wufang)", "美味五(Delicious Wufang)" and "五芳斋(Wufangzhai)" on the gift boxes on the similar or identical goods of the registered trademark without authorization involved in the case, which constituted the infringement on the exclusive right of use of the trademark No. 3781249 stated in the trademark law. Considering the popularity of the trademark involved, the degree of subjective fault of the infringer, the impact of the infringement, the attorney fees paid by Wufangzhai, and the fact that the Zongzi in the gift box involved were indeed from Wufangzhai, the defendant were ruled to pay the compensation and reasonable expenses totaling RMB 30,000.
Being unsatisfied with the judgement of the first instance, Wufangzhai appealed to the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court.
Recently, the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court dismissed the appeal of the appellant Wufangzhai and upheld the original judgment. (IP economy, June 6)
IP-related policy
2021 Annual Report of China National Intellectual Property Administration
Recently, China Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released the 2021 China National Intellectual Property Administration.
The report shows that in 2021, in terms of the application caseload in China: there were 1.586 million invention patent applications, up by 5.9%; 2.852 million utility model patent applications, 2.5% drop; 806,000 design patent applications, up by 4.6%.
In terms of the statistics of grant in 2021, 696,000 invention patents were granted, up by 31.3%; 3.12 million utility model patents were granted, up by 31.2%; and 786,000 design patents were granted, up by 7.3%.
The grant rate of invention patent in 2021 was 55%. In 2021, a total of 73,000 international patent applications submitted through PCT were accepted, up by 1.5%. Among them, 68,000 were filed by Chinese applicant, up by 2.1%.
In 2021, a total of 76,000 patent reexamination requests were accepted, up by 39.2%; 54,000 cases were concluded, up by 12.4%. The average period of concluding a reexamination case was 16.4 months. Among the concluded invention patent reexamination cases, 47.2% of the rejection decisions were revoked, and 52.8% rejection decision were maintained or the cases were closed by other means (including request rejected, deemed withdrawal, and the initiative withdrawal by the applicant).
In 2021, a total of 7,628 patent invalidation requests were accepted, up by 23.5%; 7,065 cases were closed, down 1.1%. The average period of concluding a patent invalidation request was 5.8 months. Among the concluded invalidation cases: for invention patent, 24.7% were fully invalidated, 15% were partially invalidated, and 60.4% were maintained; for utility model patent, 42% were fully invalidated, 17.8% were partially invalidated, and 40.2% were maintained; for design patent, 49.9% were fully invalidated, 0.9% were partially invalidated, and 49.1% were maintained.
In 2021, the number of trademark registration applications in China was 9.451 million; 10.568 million trademark applications were examined, up by 20.3%; the number of trademark registrations was 7.739 million, up by 34.3%.
In 2021, a total of 5,928 applications for Madrid international trademarks registration from Chinese applicants were received. By the end of 2021, the cumulative number of valid Madrid trademarks registered by Chinese applicants reached 49,000.
In 2021, 176,000 trademark opposition requests were accepted, up by 31.1%; 473,000 various trademark review requests were accepted, up by 28.8%. (CNIPA, June 1)
