ALFA LAVAL VS. HANKERING

On January 22, 2007, the Shanghai 2nd Intermediate People's Court made the first instance judgment on the case Sweden Alfa Laval VS. Hankering. The court ruled that Hankering should stop the infringement and compensate RMB 200,000 yuan to the plaintiff, and that since the act of infringement conducted by Hankering was serious, the court also made a decision of civil sanctions and decided to take over the moulds of the infringing plate heat exchangers. The court first sealed up moulds, and, after destroying them, took over the moulds.

This case, Alfa Laval VS. Hankering., dated back to 2005, when Alfa Laval Corporate AB found that the ZL50D and ZL95A series of plate heat exchangers, manufactured by Jiangyin Hankering Refrigeration Equipment Co. Ltd. and sold by Shanghai Xingfeng Cooling and Heating Equipment Co. Ltd., were similar to their patented plate heat exchangers. Therefore, the Swedish company entrusted China Patent Agent (H.K.) Ltd.(CPA) to represent them in China and instituted proceedings against Hankering and Xingfeng before the Shanghai 2nd Intermediate People's Court. The plaintiff requested the court to order that the defendant should immediately stop manufacturing and selling the infringing products, compensate RMB 1 million yuan for the plaintiffs' economic loss, and publish an apology to eliminate the ill effects.

Upon the entrustment of Alfa Laval Corporate AB, the attorneys of China Patent Agent (H.K.) Ltd., headed by Mr. Yuhe Wu, a renowned patent attorney and Director of the Legal Affairs Department of CPA, carefully studied the case, actively engaged in evidence preservation, property preservation, preliminary injunctions and other legal means, and worked out a pragmatic litigation strategy. With their great efforts, Alfa Laval Corporate AB finally won the case and the court issued the above rulings on evidence preservation, property preservation and preliminary injunctions to protect its legal rights in China. 

In May 2007, judges from the Shanghai 2nd Intermediate People's Court went to Jiangyin Hankering Refrigeration Equipment Co. Ltd. and destroyed the moulds by which Hankering manufactured a series of infringing plate heat exchangers.