On November 10, 2021, the Beijing Intellectual Property Court announced that it accepted its first drug patent linkage litigation case. In contrast, an alternative patent linkage adjudication mechanism seems more popular with the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) announcing that as of October 27, 2021 they had accepted 12 cases. China implemented a patent linkage system in their amended patent law, which became effective June 1, 2021 (Article 76 of the Patent Law of the People’s Republic of China …
China’s Sanya City Issues New Patent Subsidy Measures Despite CNIPA’s Push to End Them
On November 8, 2021, the city of Sanya in Hainan publicized the new Sanya City Intellectual Property Funding Management Measures (三亚市知识产权资助金管理办法) effective December 1, 2021. This is despite the China National Intellectual Property Administration‘s (CNIPA) push to end all patent subsidies by 2025 as announced in the Notice of the CNIPA on Further Strictly Regulating Patent Application Behavior. Sanya will grant up to 300,000 RMB (~47 thousand USD) for trademarks and up to 500,000 RMB for patents.
Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies Gets Patent Infringement Damages Upped 20X at China’s Supreme People’s Court
China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) ruled in decision dated November 3, 2021 in favor of Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies’ subsidiary DePuy Synthes in a patent infringement case upping damages twenty times on appeal. In the court of first instance, Synthes was awarded statutory damages of 1 million RMB for infringement by Double Medical (大博医疗科技股份有限公司) of patent number ZL03827088.9. On appeal to the SPC, the SPC increased the damages to 20 million RMB based on evidence provided by Synthes, …
China’s Supreme People’s Court Rules Unintentional Short Payment of Annuity Fee Causes Termination of Patent Rights
In case no（2021）最高法知行终322号 recently highlighted by China’s Supreme People’s Court on November 2, 2021, the Court ruled that an unintentional short payment of a patent annuity caused termination of the patent. A patentee received a “Patent Termination Notice” issued by the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) and sued CNIPA at the Beijing Intellectual Property Court, claiming that it had paid the annuity of 600 RMB, and the CNIPA nonetheless terminated its patent right. However, the 600 RMB was insufficient …