1. Whether patent invalidation declarations can be heard together
According to the provisions of the Patent Examination Guidelines , during the patent invalidation period, if litigation is necessary, related cases can be heard together.
In order to improve examination efficiency and reduce the burden on the parties, the Patent Reexamination Board can consolidate the cases. Situations for consolidated hearings usually include:
(1) Multiple invalidation cases for a patent right shall be consolidated for oral hearings as much as possible.
(2) In cases of invalidation of different Patent rights, where some or all of the parties are the same and the case facts are interrelated, the Patent Reexamination Board may based on the written request of the parties or on its own initiative It was decided to consolidate the oral hearings.
Evidence from invalidation cases that are tried together shall not be used in combination with each other.
2. Consequences of a patent being declared invalid
Patent Law Article Article 47 A patent right declared invalid shall be deemed to have ceased to exist from the beginning.
The decision to declare the patent right invalid has been fulfilled or enforced for the judgment or ruling on patent infringement made by the people's court before the patent right was declared invalid and has been executed. Decisions on handling patent infringement disputes, as well as patent implementation licensing contracts and patent rights transfer contracts that have been performed, do not have retroactive effect. However, compensation should be provided for losses caused to others due to the bad faith of the patentee.
(1) The patent right declared invalid shall be deemed to have ceased to exist from the beginning. In accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 of this article, a patent right declared invalid shall be deemed to have ceased to exist from the beginning. The so-called "deemed not to have existed from the beginning" refers to the legal determination that the patent right has no legal binding force from the time of authorization, rather than losing legal effect after being declared invalid. That is, the declaration of invalidity of the patent right is retroactive. And powerful.
(2) While the first paragraph of this article stipulates that the invalidation of patent rights has retroactive effect, it also stipulates in the second paragraph that it will not have retroactive effect in several situations, including:
1. The invalidation of patent rights does not have retroactive effect for judgments or rulings on patent infringement that have been made and executed by the People's Court before declaring patent rights invalid. In the case of patent rights Before being declared invalid, if the patentee files a lawsuit with the People's Court on the grounds that others have infringed its patent rights, and the People's Court makes a judgment or ruling on damages for patent infringement based on the patent rights that are still valid at that time and has implemented it, After the patent right is declared invalid, the judgment or ruling that has been made and executed will not have retroactive effect. The parties shall not request the return of infringement damages awarded based on the judgment or ruling that infringes the patent right.
2. The invalidation of patent rights does not have retroactive effect for decisions on settlement of patent infringement disputes that have been performed or enforced. In accordance with the provisions of Article 57 of this Law, any person who infringes upon a patent shall have no retroactive effect. For disputes arising from patent rights, the parties may request the patent management department to handle them; if the party is dissatisfied with the handling made by the patent management department, the party may file an administrative lawsuit with the People's Court within the prescribed time limit. The party will neither file a lawsuit nor perform management duties upon expiration of the time limit. If the patent management department has made a decision to handle a patent infringement dispute, the patent management department may request the People's Court to enforce it. If the patent management department has made a decision to handle a patent infringement dispute, the parties have fulfilled it, or the patent management department has applied for enforcement. If the court enforces the enforcement, the subsequent declaration that the patent right is invalid has no retroactive effect.
3. Situations in which the patent is invalid p>
1. The subject matter of the patent is not an invention, utility model or design stipulated by law.
China's Patent Article 2 of the Law stipulates: The inventions and creations referred to in this Law refer to inventions, utility models and designs. Inventions refer to new technical solutions proposed for products, methods or their improvements. Utility models refer to products A new technical solution suitable for practical use put forward by the shape, structure or combination thereof. Appearance design refers to the aesthetic and suitable industrial design made on the shape, pattern or combination of the product, as well as the combination of color, shape and pattern. New designs for application.
2. Patents are inventions and creations that violate the law, social ethics or harm public interests.
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