NEWS

It's a long way to go-a 7-year patent lawsuit.

Release time:

2018-02-12 02:07

On June 17, 2011, Japan's Kaneka Company filed an application with the U.S. International Trade Commission, accusing Zhejiang Pharmaceutical and other 7 companies of infringing its patent rights by the coenzyme Q10 products and their production methods sold in the United States, requesting the initiation of a 337 investigation and issuing an exclusion order And a prohibition order. This accusation did not surprise Zhejiang Medicine, on the contrary, it was expected.

It turned out that as early as November 2010, the Japanese company sued Zhejiang Pharmaceutical in Germany for infringing its European-related patents. After receiving the litigation documents on February 18, 2011, Zhejiang medicine immediately started the early warning mechanism and actively responded.

While actively responding to the lawsuit in Germany, Zhejiang Medicine also pays close attention to the trend of the US market. At that time, the other party had already applied for the patent in the United States. Once authorized, it would definitely sue Zhejiang Medicine for infringement in the United States. This accusation has passed seven years since the company sold coenzyme Q10. They developed the product in 1998 and officially went on sale in 2004.

Zhejiang Medicine regards this response as an excellent opportunity to maintain the national medicine brand. Soon, Zhejiang Medicine set up a response team responsible for the chairman and general manager. At the end of 2012, the U.S. International Trade Commission finally ruled that Zhejiang Pharmaceutical won the case, that is, "it does not infringe the claims of the 340 patent registered by Japanese Kaneka in the United States, and does not violate the 337 clause". In 2015, the Dusseldorf High District Court of Germany also made a final judgment, ruling that the claims related to the litigation of the coenzyme Q10 patent of Japan's Kaneka company are invalid.

However, Japan's Kaneka Company still did not give up and appealed to the US Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, and the case was remanded for retrial. In January 2018, the Houston District Court held another hearing and still ruled that Zhejiang Pharmaceutical's process of manufacturing coenzyme Q10 did not infringe the patent of the Japanese company. This 7-year patent dispute finally came to an end with the victory of Zhejiang Medicine. It is a long way to go. It will definitely encounter many setbacks on the road of future research and development. Only by strengthening innovation and actively responding can we go. More long-term.