What to do after the patent application rights transfer contract is declared invalid
Case Brief: Requesting the return of rights due to the invalidity of the patent application rights transfer contract
Company A applied to the State Intellectual Property Office on August 2, 2012 Obtained a design patent. On September 26, 2012, Company A and Company B signed a "Patent Application Rights Transfer Contract", stipulating that Company A would transfer the above-mentioned patent application rights to Company B free of charge. After the patent applicant was changed to Company B, the patent was authorized and announced on April 10, 2013. The patent number was No. ZL201230360367.6, and the patentee was Company B. On August 13, 2013, the xx People's Court accepted the case of Company A suing Company B over the patent application rights transfer contract dispute, and ruled that the above-mentioned "Patent Application Rights Transfer Contract" was invalid. The judgment came into effect on December 31, 2013. Company A now requires Company B to return the patent application rights.
Court ruling: Transfer of patent application rights After the contract is declared invalid, the transferee shall return it
Article 58 of the "Contract Law" stipulates that after the contract is invalid or revoked , the property obtained as a result of the contract shall be returned; if it cannot be returned or there is no need to return it, it shall be compensated at a discount. The party at fault shall compensate the other party for the resulting losses. If both parties are at fault, they shall each bear corresponding responsibilities. In this case, Company B signed a "Patent Application Rights Transfer Contract" with Company A on September 26, 2012; after Company B became the new patent applicant, the patent involved in the case was authorized and announced on April 10, 2013; On August 13, the xx People's Court accepted the case of Company A suing Company B over the patent application rights transfer contract dispute, and declared the Patent Application Rights Transfer Contract invalid. The judgment came into effect on December 31, 2013. Accordingly, according to the above legal provisions, BThe patent rights involved in the case obtained by the company based on the "Patent Application Rights Transfer Contract" should be returned to Company A after the contract has been ruled invalid by the People's Court.
Lawyer’s statement: What to do after a contract is declared invalid
The invalidity of a contract means that the contract is naturally ineffective due to the lack of certain requirements for its validity. In judicial practice, once a contract is declared invalid, it will have the legal consequence of being invalid from the beginning.
According to Article 58 of the "Contract Law": "After a contract is invalid or revoked, the property acquired as a result of the contract shall be returned; it cannot be If it is returned or there is no need to return it, it shall be compensated at a discounted price. The party at fault shall compensate the other party for the losses suffered thereby. If both parties are at fault, they shall each bear corresponding responsibilities." It can be seen that after the contract is declared invalid, the amount due to the loss shall be returned. Property acquired by contract. However, the specific return forms include unilateral return and mutual return. As far as this case is concerned, since the patent application right transfer contract is a free transfer, the return form should be unilateral return, that is, only the transferee returns to the assignor. The right to apply for a patent is enough.
Based on the above introduction, after a contract is invalid or revoked, the property acquired as a result of the contract should be returned. I believe that after reading the above introduction, everyone has a certain understanding of the legal knowledge about requesting the return of rights when the transfer contract is invalid. If you still have legal issues in this regard, please consult the lawyers of the Legal Savior Network, and they will provide you with professional advice. answer.
