How to better deal with patent infringement lawsuits

Patent infringement litigation refers to a way for a patentee or interested party to file a lawsuit with a court of competent jurisdiction after obtaining certain evidence to protect their own rights and interests when their patent rights are infringed by others. How to better deal with patent infringement lawsuits? The editor of Legal Savior Network has compiled the following content to answer your questions. I hope it will be helpful to you.

How to better respond to patent infringement litigation

1. No infringement Defense: that is, to determine whether the products or methods manufactured and sold by the company infringe the patent rights involved. Generally, this judgment should be followed: the first step is to determine the scope of protection of the patent rights based on the content of the patent claims, that is, to determine the rights. Explain the request and divide it into several relatively independent technical features; the second step is to identify the corresponding technical features of the alleged infringing object; the third step is to compare the protection scope of the determined patent right with the alleged infringing object, and decide whether to infringe or not. Analysis and judgment of infringement.

2. Publicly known technology defense Or "invalidation request" defense: If the alleged infringing object covers all the technical features of the patent involved, the company must further determine whether the technology it uses is freely and publicly known technology before the patent application date. Enterprises can also submit an "invalidation request" to the Patent Reexamination Committee of the State Intellectual Property Office within the designated defense period and evidence period, giving the plaintiff (patentee) a blow.

3. Right of first use Defense: If the enterprise has made substantial special investment and completed necessary technical preparations before the patent application date, it can continue to implement it within the original scope. A special reminder is that if an enterprise expands its scale in a reasonable manner in the future, such as adding production lines, adding branch factories, etc., it will still be implemented within the original scope.

4. Repeated authorization defense: This defense is often ignored by companies. If the patentee applies for both a utility model and an invention for the same invention-creation, attention should be paid to whether it is a duplicate authorization. An illegal patent is not protected by law.

5. Reply to warning letter : After receiving the warning letter, the suspected infringer should conduct a timely evaluation and take different countermeasures based on the evaluation results.

① If the infringement is established, You should actively negotiate with the other party and strive to reach a settlement to avoid expanding losses. During this period, depending on the circumstances, patent invalidation procedures, company acquisitions, counterclaims or other targeted lawsuits may be filed, or administrative, commercial, judicial, market and other methods may be used in conjunction with other companies to put pressure on the other party and force the other party to settle.

② If the infringement is not established, You should be prepared to respond to the lawsuit in a timely manner, collect relevant evidence, and at the same time write back to the other party to explain your point of view of non-infringement, so as to avoid litigation as much as possible. Note that when explaining your views in the reply letter, you should not give out all the specific defense reasons and key evidence to prevent you from being passive in possible litigation in the future.

"Patent Law"

Article 6 If a party delays the time limit stipulated in the Patent Law or these Rules or the time limit designated by the Patent Administration Department of the State Council due to force majeure, resulting in the loss of its rights, within 2 months from the date when the obstacle is eliminated, Within 2 years from the expiration date at the latest, you may request the patent administration department of the State Council to restore your rights.

Except for the circumstances specified in the preceding paragraph, the party concerned delays the time limit specified in the Patent Law or these Rules or the time limit designated by the Patent Administration Department of the State Council due to other legitimate reasons, resulting in the loss of its rights , you can apply to the Patent Administration Department of the State Council to restore your rights within 2 months from the date of receipt of the notice from the Patent Administration Department of the State Council.

If the party requests the restoration of rights in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 or 2 of this article, he shall submit a request for restoration of rights, explain the reasons, and, if necessary, Attach relevant supporting documents and complete the corresponding procedures that should be completed before the loss of rights; if you request the restoration of rights in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 2 of this article, you must also pay the request fee for restoration of rights.

If the party requests an extension of the time limit specified by the patent administration department of the State Council, it shall, before the expiration of the time limit, submit a request to The patent administration department of the State Council shall explain the reasons and handle relevant procedures.

The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 of this article shall not apply to the time limits specified in Articles 24, 29, 42 and 68 of the Patent Law.

The above is the relevant content summarized by the editor. If you have relevant legal consultation or other matters that you do not understand, you can call the legal savior. Online lawyer answers, the professional knowledge of lawyers can help you.