▍ Jiaquan Express - Outstanding IP Case Awards in 2022

The 2022 Lingnan Intellectual Property Litigation Conference, jointly organized by Guangdong Knowledge Economy Development Promotion Association and Guangzhou Lawyers Association, was held on June 1st, 2022. Mr. Fu Yichang from Jiaquan IP Law was invited to attend the conference and accepted the 2021 Lingnan Outstanding IP Cases Award.

Before the conference, the organizers received a total of 93 cases competing for the outstanding IP cases. After careful review and selection, the invention patent dispute case between Intralox and HONGSBELT represented by Jiaquan was awarded as one of the thirty “2021 Lingnan Outstanding IP Cases”.

(Source：http://www.gzlawyer.org/info/e42942f951af46999238a4a4a29915c7)

In April 2020, Intralox brought a lawsuit against our client HONGSBELT before Shanghai Intellectual Property Court [Case Numbers: (2020) Hu 73 Zhi Min Chu No. 353)], alleging that HONGSBELT infringed Claims 1 to 3 of its Chinese invention patent No. 2007800035278. In the past, Intralox also sued HONGSBELT for infringing upon two other patents [Case Numbers: (2016) Hu 73 Min Chu Nos. 797 and 798]. Altogether, these three cases claimed a total of 40 million RMB (approximately $6 million USD) in damages. With Jiaquan’s help, the previous suits were either dismissed or withdrawn based on the CNIPA's invalidation decisions. 

After carefully analyzing the most recent HONGSBELT case, Jiaquan’s legal team generated a reasonable litigation strategy and responded to Intralox’s lawsuit with a combination of non-infringement defense, prior art defense, and patent invalidation proceeding. Following an extensive search of the prior art, Jiaquan’s attorneys successfully identified favorable prior art evidence and filed a patent invalidation request with the CNIPA. Consequently, the CNIPA invalidated Claims 1 to 3 of the patent involved based on the evidence and arguments provided. According to the Chinese Patent Law, “any patent right that has been declared invalid shall be deemed to be non-existent from the beginning” and the Interpretations (II) of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Laws in the Trial of Patent Infringement Cases, Shanghai Intellectual Property Court dismissed Intralox’s lawsuit.

In this case, the legal team of Jiaquan represented HONGSBELT throughout the entire patent invalidation and patent infringement proceedings. So far, Jiaquan has helped HONGSBELT to win all three patent infringement lawsuits and successfully safeguarded the legal rights of its client. 

Winning this award is another affirmation to Jiaquan’s legal team. The client's repeated entrustment demonstrated the client's confidence in our capability and competency. The multiple wins also reflect the professionalism, meticulousness, and perseverance of our team. Jiaquan will continue to uphold the spirit of “professionalism, diligence, rigorousness, efficiency, and collaboration”, and will strive to provide our clients with better legal services!