CPA's Winning Patent Interference Case on China's Top 10 IP Cases 2012
China Patent Agent (H.K.) Ltd. (CPA) is glad to report that in the election of China’s top ten intellectual property cases of year 2012 co-organised by the State Intellectual Property Office of China (SIPO), State Administration for Industry & Commerce of China (SAIC), and National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC), a case CPA won on behalf of a major Chinese client has made it to the list.
The case dated back to August 2011, when the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued the notification that a US patent granted to the CPA client had entered interference proceedings for contest of priority with a pending patent of a UK applicant in the country.
The patent interference case is particularly challenging as such procedure is unique under the first-to-invent patent system of the US*, and so far no similar case has fallen on any Chinese enterprise or patentee, thus providing few precedent and experience in practice to refer to.
The priority award that CPA won on behalf of its client reflects the firm’s professional capability in gathering substantial, convincing evidence under tight timeframe and arriving at well-informed judgment and wise strategy through in-depth case analysis and proactive communication with the client.
* Following the adoption of the first-to-file system by the US to replace the first-to-invent system on 16 March 2013, interference proceedings is no longer available for applications filed on or after that date.
