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...
Patent Infringement Case Involving Shared Power Bank: Zhumang Wins and Beidian Pays
Over Ten Million Yuan in Compensation
Recently, the patent infringement case regarding shared charging devices between Shenzhen Zhumang Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Zhumang”) and Shenzhen Beidian Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Beidian”), which began in 2021 and involved three design patents and two utility model patents, has reached a conclusion. Zhumang, which owns the widely known shared power bank brands JieDian and SouDian, boasts over 500 million total users and over 100 million monthly active users for its shared power bank business, making this patent dispute a highly anticipated case within the industry.
After legal procedures, it was confirmed that Beidian’s infringement of Zhumang’s patent was true, and Beidian had paid over ten million yuan (approximately USD 1.376 million) to Zhumang to obtain the license of some patents. Next, for each device produced by Beidian that uses Zhumang’s patent, it needs to pay a royalty to Zhumang. (SOHU.com, July 5, 2024)
Technical Secret Infringement
Geely Sued WM Motor for Infringement of Technical Secrets and was Awarded
640 Million Yuan in Compensation
Recently, the Intellectual Property Court of the Supreme People’s Court concluded an appeal case between two well-known domestic automobile companies, Geely and WM Motor, over the infringement of new energy vehicle chassis technology secrets caused by a large number of employees “job hopping”. The plaintiff claimed damages of up to 2.1 billion yuan (approximately USD 288.86 million), and the Supreme People’s Court applied twice the punitive damages in the second instance to order the infringer to compensate for economic losses and reasonable expenses for rights protection totaling more than 640 million yuan (approximately USD 8.8 million), setting a new record for the amount of compensation awarded in intellectual property infringement lawsuits in China.
In a subsidiary of Geely located in Chengdu, there were nearly 40 senior managers and technicians successively leaving their positions to join WM Motor Group and its affiliated companies, with 30 of them joining immediately after leaving in 2016.
In 2018, Geely Group discovered that WM Motor Group, using some of the aforementioned former employees as inventors or co-inventors, had filed 12 applications of utility model patents based on the technical information related to the application of new energy vehicle chassis, including 12 sets of chassis component drawings and technical information borne in the digital models, which they had accessed and managed during their employment at Geely. It was also suspected that WM Motor Group had infringed upon Geely Group’s technical secrets.
Geely filed a lawsuit with the court of first instance, requesting that WM Motor cease the infringement and compensate for economic losses and reasonable expenses for protecting rights totaling 2.1 billion yuan (approximately USD 288.86 million).
After hearing the case, the court of first instance ruled that WM Motor had infringed upon Geely’s technical secrets related to five sets of chassis component drawings and awarded Geely compensation of 5 million yuan (approximately USD 687,767) for economic losses and 2 million yuan (approximately USD 275,107) for reasonable expenses for protecting rights. Both the plaintiff and the defendant were unsatisfied with the first-instance judgment and appealed to the Supreme People’s Court.
Upon trial, the Supreme People’s Court held that this case was an instance of organized and planned infringement of technical secrets, involving the large-scale poaching of new energy vehicle technical talents and techniques resources through improper means. Consequently, the court rendered the aforementioned judgment. (China Youth Net, June 17, 2024)
Statistics
“Annual Report on the Development of Patents in the Photovoltaic Industry (2024)” Released
The Intellectual Property Professional Committee of China Photovoltaic Industry Association, in conjunction with the National Industrial Information Security Development Research Center and the Electronic Intellectual Property Center of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, recently released the Annual Report on the Development of Patents in the Photovoltaic Industry (2024).
The report points out that as of December 31, 2023, the total number of patent applications in China’s photovoltaic industry was 168,000, with 73,000 valid patents and 22,000 valid invention patents, all ranking top in the world.
With the continuous expansion of solar photovoltaic application scenarios and the increasing market demand, new batteries represented by TOPCon cells, BC cells, and heterojunction cells (hereinafter referred to as “three types of batteries”) have gradually become the focus of the industry.
In the field of TOPCon cells, six Chinese companies, including Jinko Solar, Trina Solar, Tongwei, LONGi Green Energy, Jolywood, and CSI Solar, are among the top 15 companies in terms of global patent applications. In the field of BC cells, seven Chinese companies, including LONGi Green Energy, Aiko Solar, State Power Investment, CSI Solar, Sunport Power, Jolywood, and Jinko Solar, are among the top 15 innovative entities in terms of global patent applications. In the field of heterojunction cells, seven Chinese companies, including Fujian Gold Stone Solar, CSI Solar, Tongwei, Trina Solar, Anhui Huasun Solar, Jinergy Technology, and Aiko Solar, are among the top 15 applicants in terms of global patent applications. In addition, there are three universities and research institutes including the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhejiang University, and South China University of Technology, forming a clear group advantage. (China Daily, June 26, 2024)
Intellectual Property Court of the Supreme People's Court: Annual Growth in Foreign-Related Intellectual Property Cases Reached Nearly 30%, Emerging as Preferred Venue for International Litigation
Recently, at the symposium of the Supreme People’s Court on “Strengthening Judicial Protection of Intellectual Property Rights in Technological Innovation, Boosting the Development of New Productive Forces”, Deputy Chief Judge He Zhonglin of the Intellectual Property Court of the Supreme People’s Court introduced that from its establishment in 2019 to June 26, 2024, the Court has accepted a total of 20,338 cases and concluded 17,638 cases. Over the past five years, cases involving foreign parties accounted for approximately 10% of the total newly received cases, with an average annual growth rate of 28.6%. Notably, in cases related to the authorization and confirmation of invention patent rights, foreign-related cases comprised up to one-third, and the number of cases with solely foreign parties continues to increase. China has become the country with the highest number of hearing patent cases worldwide and is increasingly emerging as the preferred venue for international intellectual property litigation.
Furthermore, statistics indicate that over the past five years, cases involving strategic emerging industries accounted for more than 30% of the total, and invention patent cases grew at an average annual rate of 30.9%. There has also been a steady increase in cases with compensation awards exceeding 100 million yuan (approximately USD 13.76 million) and those recognized as constituting monopolistic practices. (China Daily, June 27, 2024)
“2023 Global Intellectual Property Protection Index Report” Officially Released
Recently, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade officially released the 2023 Global Intellectual Property Protection Index Report. The report shows that Switzerland ranks first in the intellectual property protection index, while China ranks seventh, which is in the upper middle level, with an overall strength 4.8 points higher than the average level. In particular, the number of patents granted for IT and digital communication technology, the number of patent applications filed by residents per 100 billion US dollars of GDP, the number of geographical indications, the proportion of exports of creative products in total trade, the number of scientific and technological journal articles published, the number of ISO9001 certificates issued per billion US dollars of GDP, the proportion of enterprise R&D personnel in the total number of R&D personnel, and the number of the world’s top 500 enterprises all ranked first and second among the evaluation countries.
However, the report also shows that there is still a certain gap between China and the international advanced level in terms of the proportion of “highly cited” papers included in the SCI (Science Citation Index) and the proportion of PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) patent applications entering the national stage. (the Economic Daily, July 1, 2024)
