Fujian Jinjiang Jincheng Ceramics Co., Ltd. v. Fujian Nan'an Hengtong Ceramics Co., Ltd. patent infringement dispute

Plea parties:

Plaintiff: Fujian Jinjiang Jincheng Ceramics Co., Ltd

Defendant: Fujian Nan'an Hengtong Ceramics Co., Ltd

2）       Plaintiff's claim

The plaintiff Jincheng company claimed that the patentee Chen Limin applied to the State Intellectual Property Office for the design patent "ceramic tile (9)" on July 21, 2004, and obtained the patent right on February 16, 2005, with the patent number of zl200430067996.5. On May 25, 2005, patent owner Chen Limin signed a patent exclusive license contract with the plaintiff Jincheng company to grant the plaintiff the right of independent prosecution. After the patent product was put on the market, due to its novel appearance, it quickly occupied the market and achieved good sales performance. However, in October 2005, Jincheng company, the plaintiff, found that Hengtong company, the defendant, was mass producing and selling the same product as the above design patent, infringing the plaintiff's patent right. The plaintiff sued to the court and asked for a decree: 1. The defendant immediately stopped the infringement and destroyed the infringing products, semi-finished products and molds for manufacturing infringing products; 2. The defendant made an apology within the scope of infringement; 3. The defendant compensated the plaintiff for the loss of 500000 yuan; 4. The defendant undertook all the litigation costs of this case.

3） The defendant argued

The defendant Hengtong company argued that the defendant did not know that the ceramic tile product belonged to the plaintiff's patented product, the defendant did a small amount of trial production at the request of the customer, and the number of products involved in the case was not large. The plaintiff has not publicized that the product involved in this case belongs to its patented product.

4） After finding out the facts and synthesizing the arguments of both parties, the court held that:

The term "design" as used in the patent law of our country refers to a new design that is full of aesthetic feeling and suitable for industrial application made for the shape, pattern or combination of products and the combination of color, shape and pattern. Article 11 of the patent law of the people's Republic of China stipulates that after the patent right for design is granted, no entity or individual shall exploit its patent without the permission of the patentee, that is, it shall not manufacture, sell or import its patented product for production and business purposes. Article 12 provides that any entity or individual that exploits another person's patent shall conclude a written license contract with the patentee and pay the patentee royalties. Article 57 provides that where a dispute arises from the exploitation of a patent without the permission of the patentee, i.e. the infringement of the patent right, it shall be settled by the parties through consultation; if the parties are unwilling or fail to reach a conclusion through consultation, the patentee or the interested party may bring a suit in a people's court or request the Department in charge of patent work to deal with it. The amount of compensation for the infringement of the patent right shall be determined according to the losses suffered by the obligee or the interests gained by the infringer due to the infringement; if the losses suffered by the infringer or the interests gained by the infringer are difficult to be determined, the amount of compensation shall be reasonably determined by referring to the multiple of the royalties of the patent license. When the people's court pursues the infringer's liability for compensation in accordance with the provisions of the first paragraph of Article 57 of the patent law, it may, at the request of the obligee, determine the amount of compensation in accordance with the losses suffered by the obligee as a result of the infringement or the interests gained by the infringer as a result of the infringement. Article 21 of the several provisions of the Supreme People's Court on the application of law to the trial of patent dispute cases stipulates that if the loss of the infringee or the benefit gained by the infringer is difficult to be determined and there is a patent license fee to refer to, the people's court may, according to the category of the patent right, the nature and circumstances of the infringer's infringement, the amount of the patent license fee, the patent license The amount of compensation shall be reasonably determined by reference to 1-3 times of the royalty of the patent.

In this case, the plaintiff Jincheng company entered into a patent license contract with the patentee Chen Limin who obtained the patent right of design. The contract signed by both parties is the true intention of both parties, and the content does not violate the prohibitive provisions of relevant laws, and is reported to the relevant departments for filing, so it is effective. The plaintiff Jincheng company, as the licensee and interested party of patent exclusive license, enjoys the right of action according to law, and its qualification as the subject of the plaintiff is suitable. The defendant Hengtong company, without the permission of the patentee, produces tile products which are similar to the patented products produced by the plaintiff with exclusive license in terms of shape, pattern, color and its combination, specific subject aesthetic feeling, etc., which has constituted an infringement on the plaintiff's patent right. The defendant shall bear the corresponding civil liability for this. The plaintiff Jincheng company requests to order the defendant Hengtong company to stop It is reasonable and legal to stop the infringement and make compensation, which should be supported.

The plaintiff Jincheng company requires the defendant Hengtong company to make an apology to the plaintiff for the infringement in the newspaper, but as a form of liability, the apology is mainly applicable to the infringement of personal rights, goodwill, etc., while the patent right is a kind of property right, and the infringement of patent right does not involve the above-mentioned rights issues, and the form of liability for infringement is mainly to stop the infringement and compensate for the loss, so the plaintiff requests a decree The defendant apologized for not supporting. Because it is difficult to determine the losses suffered by the plaintiff Jincheng company and the interests gained by the defendant Hengtong company due to the infringement, the relevant provisions of the aforesaid quota compensation shall be applied in this case, and the case shall be handled according to the category of patent right, the nature and circumstances of the infringer's infringement, the amount of patent license fee, the nature, scope, time and other factors of the patent license.