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...
Apple and ZTE Win in the Patent Infringement Allegations by SoftBank
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently affirmed a win for Apple Inc, HTC Corp, and ZTE Corp against allegations of wireless-technology patent infringement.
INVT, a subsidiary of SoftBank, filed a lawsuit in 2018 with the U.S. International Trade Commission against Apple, HTC, and ZTE, alleging that they infringed its patents, violated Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, and sought a ban on imports of allegedly infringing devices.
The commission ruled in 2020 that the defendants did not violate section 337, and the Federal Circuit upheld this decision lately. (Southern Urban Daily, Sep. 1st)
Anti-Unfair Competition
Tencent Sue Black-Gray Industry for Unfair Competition, Winning About $700,000 in Damages
Lawyer: Company innovations should not go beyond the law.
Tencent filed a lawsuit in 2019 against Qixiao Company, WeChat merchant Jietuwang app operated by Zhien service department, and other apps for providing identical elements and patterns of the interface, icon, and emoji of WeChat and QQ; creating false WeChat and QQ screenshots of chat, red pocket, transfer, wallet, etc., claiming their act harmed its normal operation and the legal rights and constituted unfair competition.
The first instance ruled the defendants to jointly compensate Tencent for damages of about USD 700,000 and reasonable costs of USD 40,000. The defendant appealed over this judgement but was rejected by the second instance with the judgement upheld.
This is an exemplary case awarded with the maximum damages that applies to Article 2 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law. (21jingji, Aug. 31st)
Copyright
Tencent Wins About $ 700,000 in Damages in the Lawsuit against Lizhi for Audio Copyright Infringement on the Science Fiction The Three-Body Problem
In 2019, Tencent brought a lawsuit to Pudong People’s Court, Shanghai against the Lizhi app owned by Lizhi Company, claiming that the audio works of the Three-Body Problem uploaded by Lizhi’s user infringed Tencent’s exclusive authorization right.
The court of first instance held that the defendant Lizhi Company had infringed the plaintiff's copyright, and shall bear the liability of stopping the infringement, eliminating the impact, and compensating for the loss according to law. The court ruled the defendant to compensate the plaintiff for the economic loss of about USD 700,000 and reasonable costs for right enforcement of about USD 24,000, and to publish a statement on its home page for 15 consecutive days to eliminate the impact. The Lizhi company appealed.
Recently, the court of second instance upheld the judgment. (Mydrivers, Sep. 5th)
Policy-related
Statistics of the Transformation of Intellectual Property
Recently, China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released data on the transformation and application of intellectual property.
1. The transformation of intellectual property in China has been greatly promoted and the innovation vigor has been stimulated.
In 2021, the number of China’s patent transfers and licensing reached 420,000, up by 15% year-on-year.
The number of patent transfers and licensing of the university and scientific research institutes reached 27,000, up by 33.4% year-on-year, 30% of which are in strategic emerging industries.
The import and export of intellectual property royalties totaled CNY 378.3 billion, of which the export grew by 27.1%, 10.5% higher than the import growth rate. The statistics show that both the export and import were growing while export was faster.
2. Intellectual property finance empowers market players and secures capital safety
In 2021, patent and trademark pledge financing reached CNY 309.8 billion, maintaining a growth rate of more than 40% for two consecutive years.
In the first half of 2022, China's patent and trademark pledge financing reached CNY 162.65 billion, up by 51.5% year on year. Among them, the inclusive projects under CNY 10 million were 7,345, up by 112% year-on-year. Such projects eased the pressure on small and medium-sized enterprises. At the same time, more than 150 investment projects were completed with the support of 20 intellectual property operation funds.
The Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges successfully issued 65 securities, the issuance of intellectual property securitization products reached CNY 15.8 billion, and the financing channels of intellectual property were further enriched. By cooperating with large state-owned financial institutions, 4 types of insurance and 16 products of intellectual property insurance were formed covering patent, trademark, geographical indications and other kinds of intellectual property rights. (CNIPA, Aug. 25th)
China Officially Passed First Regulation of AI Technology to Boost Innovation
China’s first AI regulation-Regulations of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone on the Promotion of Artificial Intelligence Industry has been officially published and will take effect on Nov. 1th, 2022.
This Regulation is launched based on AI’s connotations and extensions to provide solid policy support for AI and industrial development by establishing an industry-oriented open platform for arithmetic algorithms, regularly formulating and publishing a list of AI scenario requirements, and establishing an AI ethics committee, etc. (IP Silk Road, Sep. 7th)
