What should the patentee do after discovering patent infringement
After the patentee believes that its Chinese patent has been infringed, it should first carefully compare the other party’s technology with its own patented technology Analyze to see whether the other party’s technical features indeed fall within the scope of protection of your own patent to determine whether patent infringement is established.
Patent owners often overestimate their patent rights. Therefore, it is best to entrust a Chinese patent lawyer to analyze whether patent infringement is constituted and provide legal advice. .
Then, the patentee should also analyze the patentability of its Chinese patent rights to determine its validity. Because, according to the Chinese Patent Law, the Chinese Patent Office only conducts substantive examinations for invention patents, but does not conduct substantive examinations for utility models and designs, but only conducts formal examinations. Therefore, under normal circumstances, if it is an invention patent, there is no need to analyze the three properties of the patent, namely novelty, creativity and practicality. It is only necessary to check whether the annual fee is paid and whether the patent is valid. For utility model patents and design patents, a careful analysis of the three characteristics of the patent must be conducted. Only if the utility model patent or design patent is patentable and is indeed a valid right, it is appropriate to take action against the patent infringer. Otherwise, once the other party files a patent invalidation request with the China Patent Office for the utility model patent or design patent, the utility model patent or design patent will be declared invalid due to lack of patentability.
The patentee can proceed to the next step only after confirming that his patent right is valid and patent infringement is established.
The so-called next step is to collect evidence first.
The evidence that the patentee needs to collect generally has the following aspects1 , Evidence about the infringer’s situation. As the saying goes, know yourself and the enemy and you will be victorious in every battle. Therefore, the patentee should first know the exact name, address, business nature, registered capital, number of employees, business scope, etc. of the infringer. It is important to understand these situations and what strategies the patentee should adopt to deal with patent infringement.
2. Evidence of relevant infringement facts. The prerequisite for patent infringement is that there must be infringement. Therefore, evidence proving that the infringer has actually committed acts that infringe patent rights is crucial in the process of dealing with infringement. Evidence in these areas includes physical objects, photos, product catalogs, sales invoices, purchase and sales contracts, etc. of the infringing items.
3. Evidence regarding compensation for damages.
The patentee may demand damages from the infringer. The amount of damages claimed may be the losses suffered by the patentee. However, the patentee must provide evidence to prove that due to the other party's infringement, the sales volume of its patented product has been reduced, or the sales price has been reduced, as well as other losses such as extra expenses or less income.
The amount of damages claimed can also be the profits earned by the infringer from the infringement. The patentee must provide evidence to prove the infringer's sales volume, sales time, sales price, sales cost, sales profit, etc. Based on this, calculate the profits earned by the infringer.
The amount of damages claimed can also be no less than the patent license fee for the patent license trade between the patentee and a third party. To this end, the patentee must provide a patent license agreement with the third party that has been effectively performed.
How to collect the above evidence is a headache for foreign patent holders.
Generally speaking, the patentee can collect some evidence by himself or entrust a joint venture, sole proprietorship or office in China to collect it, but the best The method is to entrust a Chinese patent lawyer to conduct an infringement investigation and collect evidence. Chinese lawyers have lawyer licenses, understand the law, and it is easier to investigate and collect evidence.
As for the exact evidence of the infringer’s profits from the infringement, sometimes it is not possible to obtain it. When proceeding with litigation, you can first provide aBased on some rough evidence, after determining the patent infringement, you can request the court to audit the infringer's accounts to determine the profits from the infringement. Then, on this basis, the amount of compensation payable by the infringer is calculated.
The above are the editor’s answers to relevant questions. If you need to know more about legal knowledge, you are welcome to enter the Legal Savior Network for legal consultation.