Invalidation Case Handled by CPA on 2010 Top 10 List

An invalidation case handled by China Patent Agent (H.K.) Ltd. (CPA) on behalf of Saint-Gobain SA was named a top 10 patent reexamination case of China for year 2010. The case is also the only one on the top 10 list in which the foreign party wins.  

Saint-Gobain is a multinational corporation founded in 1665 in Paris of France, whereas the invalidation requester Fuyao Group is the largest glass manufacturer in China. In this high profile case with two glass magnates in dispute, CPA has successfully upheld its client’s patent right granted on the basis of the original claims in their entirety.

The request for invalidation was filed with the Patent Reexamination Board (PRB) of the State Intellectual Property Office of China by Fuyao Group in August 2008, alleging that the claims of Saint-Gobain’s invention patent failed to comply with Articles 22.3, 25, 26.3, 26.4 of the Chinese Patent Law and Rule 2.1 of the Implementing Regulations of the Chinese Patent Law.

To support its invalidation request, the requester put forward quite a number of causes, almost citing all relevant stipulations. In response to this, CPA’s attorneys carefully studied the case and worked out a pragmatic defence strategy to defend the patent on behalf of the client. CPA attorneys’ arguments were found convincing by the PRB in trial, which held the causes provided by the invalidation requester untenable. Saint Gobain’s patent right was successfully upheld as a result.

With the lapse of the prescribed time limit for initiating further legal proceedings, The PRB’s decision has taken effect.