Selected Chinese Patent Cases

When non-Chinese lawyers complain of “lack of transparency” in China’s IP judicial system, what they are actually complaining about is a lack of good translations of Chinese judges’ decisions. Now at last, two renowned and experienced US–China intellectual property attorneys – both fluently bilingual – take the giant step necessary to bring China’s modes of handling intellectual property disputes into the international mainstream with excellent translations of 20 landmark Chinese patent-related cases, all decided during the past 10 years. Also included and translated are specially commissioned commentaries by the exact judges who decided each case, clearly explaining the “behind-the-scenes” reasoning they used. The patent issues covered in these cases include the following:

• procedures and remedies for patent infringement;
• determination of “a clerical error”;
• how to determine similarity between designs;
• how to properly submit and use evidence;
• amendments that change the original technical solution;
• novelty and inventiveness;
• avoiding improper “hindsight” in assessing inventiveness;
• interpretation of a claim’s technical terms;
• doctrine of claim differentiation;
• patent infringement under the doctrine of equivalents;
• test standard for deciding identity or similarity between designs;
• prior art defense;
• use of a patented process for a medical regulatory review;
• identifying the manufacturer and seller involved in patent infringement;
• intentionally manufacturing or selling customized key parts of a patented product ;
• patentee’s liability for improper enforcement of patent right; and
• preliminary injunction against the import of a patented product.

A detailed introductory chapter authored by Justice Dongchuan Luo and two other IP Judges explains the historical development of the Chinese patent system and describes enforcement mechanisms and procedures, both administrative and judicial. Appendices provide English translations of the most important legal sources of patent law in China. To some readers this sophisticated body of modern Chinese patent law, with its sensitivity to well-established international consensus, will come as a revelation. To these and others, and especially to patent law practitioners, jurists, and academics worldwide, this book will quickly become a cornerstone resource.