2023.12.28
JunHe’s patent team won Gree a favorable judgment of second instance in the Intellectual Property Court of the Supreme People’s Court in a patent infringement lawsuit filed by Aux against Gree regarding a compressor. Under the final judgment, the judgments of first instance requiring Gree to pay RMB 220 million compensation were totally overturned.
The series of patent infringement cases between Aux and Gree have gained widespread attention due to the large amount of damages ruled in the first-instance judgments and its wide influence in the industry. JunHe’s team was engaged to represent Gree after the first-instance proceedings. The team found that the claims of the disputed patents were written using customized parameters and were not supported by the description, and that the patents lacked novelty and inventiveness. The team argued that the disputed patents should be therefore invalidated, and that the decision made by CNIPA to hold the patents valid should be revoked. These claims were upheld by the Beijing Intellectual Property Court in the administrative proceedings of first instance. Given the great influence of these cases, especially the prevailing issue of judicial balance between patent quality and strengthened patent protection, the Intellectual Property Court of the Supreme People’s Court decided to hear these cases publicly during the World Intellectual Property Day campaign and to join the administrative and civil proceedings. In the second instance hearing, a powerful collegiate bench was formed to hear the case publicly.
During the trial, JunHe’s team demonstrated the working process of the compressor and the electric motor through dynamic simulation, and visually displayed the relationship between the disputed patents and the reference documents as well as the prior art. As the disputed patents involved not only mechanics and materials science, but also complex aerodynamics and fluid dynamics, the illustrative presentation delivered by JunHe’s team facilitated a deeper and more accurate understanding of the technical solutions of the disputed patents, the reference documents and the prior art by the collegiate bench and the audience. After careful study and analysis, the Intellectual Property Court of the Supreme People’s Court upheld the first-instance judgments’ finding that the claims were not supported by the description. They further denied the novelty and inventiveness of the disputed patents according to the reasons and evidence presented by JunHe’s team because the patentee had failed to prove that the features and range of the customized parameters were different from those of the prior art. The Supreme People’s Court held that the protection granted to the patentee should not exceed the technical contribution made by the patentee, otherwise it would be unfair to the public. Accordingly, the Supreme People’s Court concluded that the disputed patents did not meet the requirements for granting patent rights and should be invalidated. While upholding the first-instance judgments to revoke the invalidation decision, the Supreme People’s Court ruled to dismiss all patent infringement lawsuits filed by Aux in the first instance. After nearly two years, JunHe’s team assisted the Gree team in securing a solid victory in this case.
This case has profound significance. The Supreme People’s Court not only set out the criteria that the claims should be supported by the description, but also gave clear guidelines for the determination of novelty and inventiveness of the patents involving customized parameters. The adjudication rules and legal logic, as well as the judicial spirit of matching protection with contribution as reflected by the judicial documents for this case, have created a typical example and guidelines for future cases. This case demonstrates the boldness and innovative spirit of JunHe’s patent team as well as its positive and decisive attitude, and professional and rigorous service delivery.
The JunHe partners responsible for the project were WANG, Zhaolin (Johnson) and WEI, Yuming.
