LONGAN IP Newsletter No.5 2022

Contents

Long An IP News

Long An Released the Top 10 Intellectual Property Cases Represented by Long An in 2021

Cindy Quan, Senior Partner of Long An, Invited Mr. Fu Ma, President of China Trademark Association, to Participate in the Long An Trademark Symposium

China IP News

Notification of the CNIPA on Continuing to Severely Crack Down on Malicious Trademark Registration

Announcement of the CNIPA on Interim Measures for the Handling of Relevant Affairs after China’s Accession to the Hague Agreement

The CNIPA Released the White Paper on the Status of Intellectual Property Protection in China in 2021

The SPC Released the Top 10 Intellectual Property Cases Heard by Chinese Courts in 2021

Long An Case Study

The Case Represented by Long An Selected into [Summary of the Judgmentsof the SPC’s Intellectual Property Court 2021] – Suzhou ** Environmental Equipment Co., Ltd. VS Suzhou ** Chimney Technology Co., Ltd., etc. on invention patent infringement

Long An IP News

Long An Released the Top 10 Intellectual Property Cases Represented by Long An in 2021

In order to celebrate the World Intellectual Property Day on April 26, Long An Law Firm selected the Top 10 intellectual property cases represented by Long An in 2021 from the over 1,200 intellectual property cases represented by the firm in 2021, according to factors such as the type, complexity, influence, object of litigation, etc.

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/3z297acQEcCC0Egm0LiWaQ

Ms. Cindy Quan, Senior Partner of Long An, Invited Mr. Fu Ma, President of China Trademark Association, to Participate in the Long An Trademark Symposium

On April 19, 2022, Mr. Fu Ma, president of China Trademark Association, visited Beijing Long An Law Firm and exchanged views. Ms. Cindy Quan, senior partner of Long An and director of the Intellectual Property Committee of Chaoyang Lawyers Association, Mr. Jianjun Fu, partner of Long An, and Alice Zhao, senior counsel of Long An attended the activity.

At the symposium, Ms. Quan thanked the Trademark Association for its attention and support over the years, and introduced the business development of Long An in recent years. Mr. Ma said that Long An has rich experience in intellectual property legal services, and expected Long An to continue to give full play to its professional advantages, actively explore and practice in enhancing brand value and strengthening brand building for clients, and better serve the national brand strategy.

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/KzjHwtmljTnGyweL4ki4lg

China IP News

Notification of the CNIPA on Continuing to Severely Crack Down on Malicious Trademark Registration

On March 29, 2022, the CNIPA issued a notification on continuing to crack down on malicious trademark registration. Based on several situations of malicious trademark registration applications that are not intended for use in the Guidelines for Trademark Examination and Trial, the Notification focuses on cracking down on the typical illegal acts, including “the number of trademark registration applications obviously exceeds the needs of normal business activities, and there is a lack of real intention to use”, “Substantially copying, imitating, or plagiarizing trademarks or other commercial marks that have a certain reputation or strong distinctiveness owned by multiple entities”, “Transferring a large number of trademarks and the assignees are scattered, disrupting the order of trademark registration”, etc.

https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/art/2022/4/12/art_75_174557.html

Announcement of the CNIPA on Interim Measures for the Handling of Relevant Affairs after China’s Accession to the Hague Agreement

In order to ensure the entry into force and implementation of the Hague Agreement, the CNIPA formulated and issued the Interim Measures for the Handling of Relevant Affairs After China’s Accession to the Hague Agreement, which came into force on May 5, 2022. The Interim Measures consist of nine articles, clarifying the handling rules for priority claims and divisional applications.

For example, Article 4 stipulates that an applicant for an international design may file a divisional application with the CNIPA within two months from the date of its application for international publication, and the CNIPA shall handle in accordance with the Patent Law and its implementing rules and the relevant provisions of the Patent Examination Guidelines.

https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/art/2022/4/25/art_74_175158.html

The CNIPA Released the White Paper on the Status of Intellectual Property Protection in China in 2021

On April 25, 2022, the CNIPA released the White Paper on the Status of Intellectual Property Protection in China in 2021.

The SPC accepted 4,243 new intellectual property civil cases in 2021, and 3,557 were concluded. A total of 550,263 first-instance civil cases concerning intellectual property rights were accepted by local people’s courts at all levels in China, and 515,861 cases were concluded, including 6,573 foreign-related intellectual property civil cases (6,419 cases were concluded), 31,618 patent cases, 124,716 trademark cases, 360,489 copyright cases, 4,015 technology contract cases, 8,419 competition cases, and 21,006 other intellectual property civil cases. 49,084 second-instance intellectual property civil cases were accepted by local people’s courts at all levels in China and 45,468 cases were concluded.

https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/art/2022/4/25/art_53_175140.html

The SPC Released the Top 10 Intellectual Property Cases Heard by Chinese Courts in 2021

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/S6xduRxR6dXH_XoAtDeuhw

Long An Case Study 

The Case Represented by Long An Selected into [Summary of the Judgments of the SPC’s Intellectual Property Court 2021] – Suzhou ** Environmental Equipment Co., Ltd. VS Suzhou ** Chimney Technology Co., Ltd., etc. on invention patent infringement

Long An represented the plaintiff, Suzhou ** Environmental Equipment Co., Ltd. to sue Suzhou ** Chimney Technology Co., Ltd., etc. for infringing its patent No. 201010160845.9 named “Inner and outer barrel type free-standing steel chimney”.

During the trial of the case, the focus of the dispute is reflected in the understanding of the “horizontal fixed and vertical sliding mechanism” recorded in Claim 1. The court of first instance held that the horizontal fixed and vertical sliding mechanism is a functional technical feature, which should be determined in accordance with the specific embodiments in the patent specification and its equivalent embodiments. In this case, the two are neither identical nor equivalent. Therefore, the court of first instance ruled that the defendant did not constitute infringement. The plaintiff refused to accept and appealed to the Intellectual Property Court of the Supreme People’s Court.

Through the research of the technical solution involved and the similarities and differences between the single-tube chimney and the multi-tube chimney, the IP team of Long An fully explained that the sleeve and the fixing plate are only adaptive mechanisms required for the multi-tube chimney, and in this case, the essential technical feature realizing sliding is that the inner barrel is supported on the structure coaxial with the inner barrel through the corresponding sliding fulcrum.

Finally, the court of second instance accepted our opinions and determined that the corresponding feature of the accused infringing chimney constituted the identical technical feature of the “horizontal fixed and vertical sliding mechanism” in the patent Claims involved, and ruled that the defendant constituted infringement.

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/krNdE5viZlq5LU3r_UYFCA

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