2025-03-24
On April 28, 2024, our official account released a message titled "The Supreme People's Court rejected the appeal, and the case was concluded! The team's lawyers won 9 consecutive victories in patent infringement cases!" (link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/OLaolLLllQW0FfwF6GPUvA) It detailed how our ACIES team, acting as agents for Shenzhen S Company and Hong Kong K Company (the first - trial defendants), secured 9 consecutive winning judgments in a series of patent infringement cases, achieving a significant victory.
Among these 9 winning judgments, the second - trial case (2023) Yue Min Zhong 1256 by the Guangdong Higher People's Court was selected as one of the Top Ten Intellectual Property Judicial Protection Cases in Guangdong Courts in 2023 (link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/zSYNvu4Hc_oN3eh7mumIlw). When summarizing the typical significance of this case, the Guangdong Higher People's Court considered:
It’s a rare major, complex, and difficult design patent infringement dispute involving mainland, Chinese Hong Kong, Chinese Taiwan, and foreign - funded enterprises, with a litigation value exceeding 15 million yuan. The case delved into cutting - edge judicial issues, such as the application of the "estoppel" principle in design patent cases. It legally recognized the defendant's right to free implementation through commission, balancing the relationship between the commissioner's financial investment and the consignee's intellectual input in scientific research achievements. This facilitated the efficient use of technological achievements and provided all - around protection for the entire chain of intellectual property creation, protection, and utilization, boosting innovation for high - quality development.
Subsequently, plaintiff B Company, dissatisfied with the second - trial judgment, applied for retrial to the Supreme People's Court. On August 16, 2024, the Supreme People's Court conducted a circuit trial at the Guangzhou Intellectual Property Court to investigate the case.
Attorney Lawrence Wangand Shi Caiyun of ACIES team continued to represent Shenzhen S Company and Hong Kong K Company in court.
Recently, the Supreme People's Court issued Civil Ruling (2024) No. 4067, rejecting B Company's retrial application. The core reason was:
According to multiple email exchanges, both parties had reached consensus on the commission - designed product model. P Company, by inviting X Company (an affiliate of B Company) to bid and revising X Company's design plan, clearly expressed the commission - design intent and specific requirements to X Company. X Company, aware of P Company's commission - design intention, completed the product design, revisions, and delivered the product's 2D and 3D drawings according to P Company's requirements. Although P Company did not directly pay the commission - design fee to X Company, it used a project as compensation for X Company's delivery of the commission - design results. Thus, the second - trial court's determination of the defacto commission - design contract relationship between X Company and P Company was justified.
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Since the involved patent was commissioned by P Company for design, P Company, as the commissioner, is legally entitled to free use. Therefore, the second - trial court's conclusion that P Company has free - use rights over the involved patent is correct. B Company's related retrial claims are unfounded and are rejected.
Through close cooperation with lawyers Cao Xiaoming and Liu Jing from Guangdong Pin'an Law Firm, our ACIES team's lawyers have achieved full - scale victories in the patent infringement series cases involving 6 patents. These cases were tried by three levels of courts: Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court, Guangdong Higher People's Court, and the Supreme People's Court, with as many as 10 case numbers.
