Zhongbei Dynamics丨Invalidating the other party's patent rights to effectively protect the client's legitimate rights
Recently, in a civil case where our client was accused of patent infringement, we successfully invalidated the patent in question through administrative procedures, enabling our client to take the initiative and laying a solid foundation for the subsequent protection of their legitimate rights.
Case Background
Recently, Gaston Green Electric Company received a pre-mediation notice from the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court, learning that the plaintiff Schneider Electric Company and two other companies had filed a lawsuit against Gaston Green Electric Company for infringement of its design patent, demanding a cease and desist order and compensation of 1 million yuan.
Highlights of this Case
After receiving the commission from Gaston Green Electric Company, our firm assembled a rights protection team composed of senior patent agents and lawyers. After initial communication, we believed that the claimed compensation amount was substantial; if infringement was established, product suspension and substantial compensation would significantly impact the client. Our firm immediately launched a search and conducted comparative analysis. Through multiple rounds of searching and analyzing relevant existing designs, and analyzing the design characteristics of the patent in question and those of the retrieved existing designs, we accurately identified the point of entry for the case. We used different combinations of existing designs and filed a petition for invalidation of the design patent with the State Intellectual Property Office, while simultaneously applying to the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court to suspend the case mediation, giving the company more time.
Interim Conclusion
On September 19, 2022, the State Intellectual Property Office decided to invalidate all of Schneider Electric Company's design patent No. 201530121796.1.
Common defenses in patent infringement litigation include declaring the patent in question invalid, non-infringement defense, prior art defense, prior use defense, etc. However, accurately identifying the point of entry is the core of such cases. Our team, with its rich experience, accurately identified the point of defense at the first instance, winning a preliminary victory through extensive data retrieval and detailed data analysis, effectively protecting the client's legitimate rights.
