On June 29, 2020, the Supreme People’s Court of China made a final decision in favor of the “Little i Robot” patent (Patent No. ZL200410053749.9) owned by Shanghai Xiaoi Robot Technology Ltd. (上海智臻智能网络科技公司) (“Xiaoi”). The Supreme People’s Court reversed the invalidity decision of the Beijing High Court, and maintained the validity decision of the Beijing First Intermediate Court. Apple Computer Trading Shanghai Ltd. (“Apple”) had been challenging the validity of the patent in response to a lawsuit filed by Xiaoi …
Category: Case
China’s Supreme People’s Court Rules Customer Lists are not Trade Secrets
In decision (2019）最高法民再268号 dated December 16, 2019 and just recently published, the Supreme People’s Court of China (SPC) held that customer lists are not trade secrets even with signed confidentiality agreements. One of the defendants, former employees of the plaintiff, Huayang Xinxing Technology (Tianjin) Group Co., Ltd. , left Huayang to start Mai Da Keer (Tianjin) Technology Co., Ltd. after almost 20 years at Huayang. With their departure, the defendants took a customer list containing 43 customers’ data including the …
The China National Intellectual Property Administration Announces Top 10 Patent Invalidation Cases of 2019
The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) has announced the top 10 patent invalidation and reexamination cases of 2019. Technologies include pharmaceuticals, light emitting diodes (LEDs), software and other technologies. While none of the petitioners were foreign, several of the patentees were foreign and their patents all survived invalidation.
China Issues Ruling in First 5G Criminal Intellectual Property Law Case
The People’s Court of Nanshan District of Shenzhen recently issued a ruling believed to be the first 5G criminal intellectual property law case in China. 5G is the fifth generation technology standard for cellular networks, which cellular phone companies began deploying worldwide in 2019, the planned successor to the 4G networks which provide connectivity to most current cellphones. The Court held defendants Huang Mouyu and Wang Mou guilty of trade secret theft and sentenced them to three years in jail and a 150,000 RMB fine. The …