China Patent Agent (H.K.) Ltd. (CPA) is pleased to report that a winning invention patent invalidation case of our firm has been placed on several lists of exemplary cases of the year, namely, Supreme People's Court of China (SPC)'s Top 50 Exemplary IP Cases 2020, Beijing High Court's Top 10 Cases in IP Judicial Protection 2020, and Beijing Intellectual Property Judicial Protection Association (BJIPPA)'s Top 10 Exemplary Judicial Cases in Patent Grant and Validation 2020. In particular under Beijing High Court's top 10 list, this case is a top mention as well as the only patent case there.

 

In this case, CPA successfully defended our foreign client's essential 5G technology patent, through our well-deployed arguments that resulted in the revocation of both the invalidation decision and the first-instance judgment. The point of dispute of the case lies in the determination of "direct replacement of conventional means" in novelty assessment. And the second-instance ruling clearly states an adjudication rule for guiding similar issue in future. The ruling also embodies the judicial principle of equal protection according to law for the legitimate interests of the Chinese and foreign parties alike.

 

Regarding the said exemplary lists, "Top 50 Exemplary IP Cases" represent SPC's choices from cases of exemplary and reference value as recommended by the high courts as well as cases heard by the SPC itself; "Top 10 Cases in IP Judicial Protection" are the results determined by industry experts commissioned by the Beijing High Court among high-profile, adjudication rule-setting cases recommended by the three levels of courts in the Beijing municipality; whereas "Top 10 Exemplary Judicial Cases in Patent Grant and Validation" comprise cases selected by a panel of renowned IP judges and experts on the basis of the impact of the ruling and guiding value of the cases, as well as their research value for theoretical or practical advancement in the field of IP law.