公牛集团5亿专利诉讼大局已定，原告通领科技上诉乏力！

Categories:最新消息
Author:华讯知识产权
Origin:
Time of issue:2020-03-13 14:41
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(Summary description)3月10日，公牛集团在《证券日报》上刊登《关于诉讼进展的公告》，公牛集团称，3月6日，其收到最高人民法院《上诉案件应诉通知书》、《举证通知书》。最高人民法院决定受理江苏通领科技有限公司（下称“通领科技”）关于实用新型专利涉及5个案件的上诉请求。通领科技请求撤销江苏省南京市中级人民法院作出的一审《民事裁定书》，将案件发回南京市中级人民法院重审。本案所涉及的5个案件可参见往期的新闻报道，2018年9月

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公牛集团5亿专利诉讼大局已定，原告通领科技上诉乏力！

Categories:最新消息
Author:华讯知识产权
Origin:
Time of issue:2020-03-13 14:41
Views:

Information

3月10日，公牛集团在《证券日报》上刊登《关于诉讼进展的公告》，公牛集团称，3月6日，其收到最高人民法院《上诉案件应诉通知书》、《举证通知书》。最高人民法院决定受理江苏通领科技有限公司（下称“通领科技”）关于实用新型专利涉及5个案件的上诉请求。通领科技请求撤销江苏省南京市中级人民法院作出的一审《民事裁定书》，将案件发回南京市中级人民法院重审。

南京华讯知识产权顾问有限公司

本案所涉及的5个案件可参见往期的新闻报道，2018年9月，公牛集团启动A股IPO进程，2018年12月，通领科技以公牛集团等作为被告，向南京市中院提起侵害专利权纠纷诉讼，分别涉及发明专利“支撑滑动式安全门”和实用新型专利“电源插座安全保护装置”两项专利。2019年1月，公牛集团向国家知识产权局提出了上述专利的无效宣告申请，之后后，国家知识产权局专利局复审和无效审理部发出《无效宣告请求审查决定书》（第40759号、第40829号），宣告上述涉案专利权全部无效，南京市中院于2019年7月21日驳回了通领科技的起诉。

南京华讯知识产权顾问有限公司

通领科技的主要上诉理由是，在本案一审裁定作出时，国家知识产权局对涉案专利所作出的第40759号无效决定尚未生效，且在上诉人有权对其提起行政诉讼的三个月的法定期限内。只有自上诉人收到第 40759 号无效决定之日起三个月内上诉人不向人民法院起诉或者起诉后生效裁判未撤销该决定，才会真正出现上诉人“在本案涉案专利侵权诉讼中主张的权利要求已丧失法律基础”的情形。而且，上诉人即将于法定的期限内对第 40759 号无效决定向北京知识产权法院提起行政诉讼。因此，一审法院在涉案专利的第40759号无效审查决定效力未定的情况下，就直接作出上诉人“在本案涉案专利侵权诉讼中主张的权利要求已丧失法律基础”的认定，属于对本案基本事实认定的严重错误。

南京华讯知识产权顾问有限公司

笔者认为通领科技的上诉理由难以得到法院的认可，宣告专利无效的专利权视为自始即不存在，故在国家知识产权局复审和无效审理部发出无效宣告请求审查决定，宣告涉案专利无效后，涉案专利权应视为自始即不存在，不受法律保护。无论是否提起行政诉讼，该决定自发出时生效。因此，通领科技的上诉理由难以获得支持。如果通领科技不服无效决定，提起行政诉讼，专利权依法恢复权利，根据《最高人民法院关于适用﹤中华人民共和国民事诉讼法﹥的解释》第二百一十二条的规定，“裁定不予受理、驳回起诉的案件，原告再次起诉的，如果符合起诉条件且不属于民事诉讼法第一百二十四条规定情形的，人民法院应予受理”，通领科技可以重新起诉。另外，在一审程序中，南京中院裁定驳回起诉，其前期支付高昂的受理费也将退回给原告通领科技。从诉讼成本上看，笔者认为通领科技提起上诉并不是十分明智的选择。即使在上诉的过程中，该无效决定被撤回，一审案件被发回重审，这实质无异于重新起诉。

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Electronic Arts pledges free use for five accessibility patents

Electronic Arts pledges free use for five accessibility patents Recently, Electronic Arts (EA) announced a patent pledge that gives other companies and developers free access to five of its current accessibility-related patents and technology. The company promised not to enforce against any party for infringing any of the listed patents. Instead, EA hopes to encourage “innovation” and build new features that make video games more inclusive on a much larger scale by opening up the patents. Electronic Arts (EA) is an American video game company founded in 1982. The company owns many popular and famous games, such as The Sims, SimCity, Apex Legends, Madden NFL and FIFA. Each of the games has more than 30 or 50 million sales volume. Significantly, esports involves FIFA and Apex Legends into the event list. Apex Legends has up to 1 billion players, and it is so popular that it has a Switch version. Within the freely available patents, one of which grabs everyone’s attention -- Apex Legends’ ping system (patent No. US 11097189). The ping system in Apex Legends, which excellently allows players to make communication and teamwork quick and easy without hearing or speaking, has been praised both as an impressive alternative to voice chat and as a great accessibility feature for players with a variety of disabilities. The other patents include the technology widely used in the FIFA and Madden NFL. The innovations can automatically detect and modify colors (patent No. US 10118097 and CN 107694092) and contrast ratios (patent No. US 10878540) to improve gamers’ visibility with colorblindness and low vision. Furthermore, one of the patents relates to personalized sound technology, helping players with hearing issues by modifying or creating music based on their preferences (patent No. US 10790919). The code of the mentioned technology is published on EA’s GitHub, and it is open to all developers. Thus, the developers can use it or adapt it for their games without spending the costs to research. It is good that EA shares the patents for free use and aims to create an accessibility-increased gaming environment for players. However, it is not “unconditional” to use the listed patents. In the pledge, EA mentioned that it may terminate the promise for a specific party which files a patent infringement lawsuit or other patent proceedings against EA. We can see parts of EV’s ambition behind the announcement—to build a large game developer league and a community of shared interests. Reference: https://www.ea.com/commitments/positive-play/accessibility-patent-pledge https://iknow.stpi.narl.org.tw/Post/Read.aspx?PostID=14562 https://www.polygon.com/22639469/apex-legends-electronic-arts-patent-pledge-accessibility-developers https://www.theverge.com/2021/8/24/22638535/ea-accessibility-patent-pledge-apex-legends-ping-system https://www.gamesradar.com/ea-secures-a-patent-for-the-apex-legends-ping-system-and-its-giving-it-away-for-free/ https://dotesports.com/apex-legends/news/apex-legends-ping-system-is-now-patent-free-for-accessibility https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/08/apex_legends_ping_system_now_patent-free_as_ea_announces_accessibility_pledge Recently, Electronic Arts (EA) announced a patent pledge that gives other companies and developers free access to five of its current accessibility-related patents and technology. The company promised not to enforce against any party for infringing any of the listed patents. Instead, EA hopes to encourage “innovation” and build new features that make video games more inclusive on a much larger scale by opening up the patents. Electronic Arts (EA) is an American video game company founded in 1982. The company owns many popular and famous games, such as The Sims, SimCity, Apex Legends, Madden NFL and FIFA. Each of the games has more than 30 or 50 million sales volume. Significantly, esports involves FIFA and Apex Legends into the event list. Apex Legends has up to 1 billion players, and it is so popular that it has a Switch version. Within the freely available patents, one of which grabs everyone’s attention -- Apex Legends’ ping system (patent No. US 11097189). The ping system in Apex Legends, which excellently allows players to make communication and teamwork quick and easy without hearing or speaking, has been praised both as an impressive alternative to voice chat and as a great accessibility feature for players with a variety of disabilities. The other patents include the technology widely used in the FIFA and Madden NFL. The innovations can automatically detect and modify colors (patent No. US 10118097 and CN 107694092) and contrast ratios (patent No. US 10878540) to improve gamers’ visibility with colorblindness and low vision. Furthermore, one of the patents relates to personalized sound technology, helping players with hearing issues by modifying or creating music based on their preferences (patent No. US 10790919). The

2021-10-22

The forum on "China's Intellectual Property-related Reform Measures and New Trends in Patent Litigation" will be held successfully!

The forum on "China's Intellectual Property-related Reform Measures and New Trends in Patent Litigation" will be held successfully! In response to the call for building a strong country with intellectual property rights, at 2 o'clock in the afternoon of October 21, the forum on "China's reform measures related to intellectual property rights and new trends in patent litigation" will be successfully held in Nanjing Jiangbei New District Industrial Technology Research and Innovation Park. The event was hosted by the Science and Technology Innovation Bureau of Nanjing Jiangbei New Area Management Committee, Nanjing Jiangbei New Area Industrial Technology Research and Innovation Park, Nanjing Intellectual Property Rights Protection Assistance Center Jiangbei New District Center, Nanjing Huaxun Intellectual Property Consultant Co., Ltd., Nanjing Intellectual Property Co-organized by the Protection Center (Nanjing Intellectual Property Rights Protection Assistance Center), Taiwan Pharmaceutical Development Association, and Gene Online. The director of Nanjing Intellectual Property Protection Center, Mou Xiaojian, delivered a speech. Director Mu expressed his warm congratulations on the holding of this event and introduced in detail the new pattern of intellectual property protection in Nanjing. He said: At present, Nanjing has implemented a rights protection assistance network in the municipal area. With full coverage, Nanjing Intellectual Property Protection Center is willing to closely communicate and interact with Nanjing's innovation entities, and provide relevant public welfare services such as rapid pre-review, rapid rights protection, and comprehensive utilization for enterprises in need. In addition, Huang Funan, CEO of Gene Online, was unable to come to congratulate due to the epidemic, and recorded a congratulatory video. In the video, he said: China Innovative Pharmaceuticals has already made many outstanding achievements on the international stage, and these are inseparable from intellectual property rights. The support of the company can also show the importance of intellectual property rights to biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. This event invites four industry experts to focus on China's reform measures related to intellectual property rights and new trends in patent litigation, discuss with companies and universities, and make arrangements in advance. Dr. Qingchen Hou, general manager of Nanjing Huaxun Intellectual Property Consulting Co., Ltd., introduced the "Guidelines for Building a Powerful Country with Intellectual Property Rights (2021-2035)" and explained his views from four aspects: background, strategic layout, overall requirements, and organizational guarantees. . Subsequently, a detailed analysis of China's patent linkage system was carried out, and compared with the same types of cases at home and abroad, questions were raised: Why should we reward the first person who successfully challenged patents? Not the first person to file a P4 application? And have a series of discussions with you. Director Jiang Haijun of the Intellectual Property Protection Legal Committee of the Nanjing Lawyers Association gave a speech on three points: the problems after the amendment of the patent law, the enforceability of the amount of compensation, and the legal conflicts related to service inventions. Regarding the patent right evaluation report, he emphasized that the patentee, interested party or accused infringer can also proactively issue a patent right evaluation report. "Patent is a work of art that combines technology and law" is a message shared by Mr. Feng Tao from Jiangsu Junbo Law Firm at this event. Mr. Feng analyzes the big data of Chinese patent litigation cases through graphs and examples. Explore. The last topic of the event was shared by Guo Huangying, Intellectual Property Manager of Nanjing Huaxun Intellectual Property Agency (General Partnership)-China's Patent Infringement Judgment Principles and New Developments. Manager Guo explained to everyone the principles of patent infringement judgment and the necessity of patent infringement search and analysis before producing and selling products. In the intellectual property industry, ECCOM has been providing high-quality and professional comprehensive intellectual property services to enterprises and universities one step at a time. It also hopes that under the leadership of the state and the government, it will contribute to the building of a strong intellectual property nation in China. Make a contribution.

2021-10-22

Types of patents that are easily overlooked- Design Patent

Types of patents that are easily overlooked- Design Patent In recent years, as the public’s awareness of intellectual property has increased, people have begun to consciously use the patent law to protect their intellectual property rights. However, in the process of implementation, they often only focus on invention patent and utility model patent, and tend to ignore the protection of design patent. Recently, Midea sued Haotaitai for two models of CXW-300-D998 and CXW-300-D908 Haotaitai brand range hoods In the case of suspected infringement of its design patent (patent number: ZL201930621598.X), the Guangzhou Intellectual Property Court made a first-instance judgment after hearing that it determined that the two products of Haotaitai constituted infringement, and ordered it to immediately stop the infringement and compensate Midea, The company's economic losses and reasonable expenses totaled 360,000 yuan. In fact, appearance infringement cases have occurred from time to time before, such as: "Molly" blind box design patent case, "Siemens" switch design patent infringement dispute case received a compensation of 6 million yuan, three Casio watch design patents were infringed Received a compensation of 8.8 million yuan and so on. The reason why people ignore the protection of design patents, in the final analysis, is that they have insufficient knowledge of design patents. Today, let's take a look at what is protected by design patents and what rights protections can we apply for? Design patent definition: Article 2 of the "Patent Law", design patent, refers to a new design that is aesthetically pleasing and suitable for industrial applications based on the shape, pattern, or combination of products, and the combination of color, shape, and pattern. Protected range: The shape of the product; the pattern of the product; the shape and pattern of the product; the shape and color of the product; the pattern and color of the product; the shape, pattern and color of the product. Protection period: The term of protection for design patent rights is 15 years, calculated from the date of filing. What are the conditions for applying for a design patent? The design should be aesthetically pleasing Appearance patents should be suitable for industrial applications The design patent application should be novel The design patent application should be inventiveness What are the advantages and functions of design patents? Protect the rights and interests of enterprises in product designs and fight against infringements in market competition. To enhance brand value, the quality and quantity of patents are the embodiment of the company's innovation ability and core competitiveness. Receive consumer recognition. If a company's new product appearance is filed for a patent in a timely manner, its appearance design will enjoy the exclusive right. Nowadays, consumers often choose products with trendy and beautiful appearance when buying their products. Applying for a design patent is a necessary condition for applying for a high-tech enterprise.

2021-09-26

Colopl Settles Patent Infringement Lawsuit with Nintendo by Paying $30 Million

Colopl Settles Patent Infringement Lawsuit with Nintendo by Paying $30 Million This August, Nintendo and a game developer Colopl announced that they have settled for patent infringement regarding White Cat Project (Shironeko Project in Japanese), a smartphone game developed by Colopl. Although both companies did not publicly share exact details of the settlement, at least it is sure that Colopl agreed to pay 3.3 billion yen (about US$30.2 million) as the settlement fee for the proceedings, including the future license of Nintendo's patents. How did the battle begin? Being developed and published by a Japanese game developer, Colopl, White Cat Project is a free-to-play action role-playing game for Android and iOS systems. The mobile game was launched in July 2014 as well as got a television anime adaptation in 2020. It is incredibly popular to have more than 50 million downloads. Furthermore, the game is set to receive a Switch version titled "Shironeko New Project". In September 2016, Nintendo noted the Colopl's game and considered that the game had infringed on several of Nintendo's technology patents. The two companies communicated with each other for over a year; however, Nintendo did not accept the explanations from Colopl, and Nintendo filed a lawsuit against Colopl at the beginning of 2018. Nintendo claimed that Colopl infringed 6 of its patents. These patents protect touch-screen joystick functionality (patent no. JP3734820), multiplayer connectivity (patent no. JP5595991, JP6271692), confirmation screens in sleep mode (patent no. JP4010533), character attacks based on touch input locations (patent no. JP4262217), and a shadow effect placed on characters hidden behind the game geometry (patent no. JP3637031). These patents almost cover various ways of game technology, especially the patent JP5595991 and JP6271692. Their patent family is wide-reaching, and many divisional applications of the family are pending in Japan. They protect a communication game system and its related devices. It is not easy to detect the patent's existence and boundary since this kind of hardcore technique is so common in the gaming field and our daily lives. The five-year patent war has been settled. After a five-year dispute, the situation appeared to turn in Nintendo's favor as the Switch maker increased its monetary demands, which convinced Colopl to strike a deal that lets it use the disputed patents. Furthermore, a Switch version of White Cat Project remains in the works at Colopl. With the extraordinary losses of Colopl, the legal battle between the two companies came to an end.

2021-09-09