Hui WANG
Patent invalidation, as an important proceeding for patent prosecution, directly affects patent stability and protection scope. The top ten Chinese patent invalidation and re-examination cases are selected and released on April 26 of 2019 – “World Intellectual Property Day”.
An invalidation case handled by Chofn – “Electric Solowheel”, which attracted high attentions from the society, the industry and the legal field, is selected in the list of Top Ten.
Interestingly, the Solowheel invalidation proceeding was the first one ever in history that “failure of conducting confidentiality examination (i.e. failure to obtain a foreign filing license)” (Article 20, paragraph 1 of the Chinese Patent Law) was used as a ground for invalidation against the patentee. The focus of the oral hearing was therefore whether the invention was first completed in China or in United States, and whether the patentee fulfilled their duty to submit confidentiality examination with CNIPA. Intriguingly, the competitions in Monocycle or Solowheel industry have always been vigorous in China, and players were also entangled with 337 investigations through years.
The Patent Reexamination Board also took seriously about this case and formed a Collegiate Panel of five members (the maximal number of members as required by the law) to hear what parties had to say.
Mr. Binglin LI and Mr. Shanghai HU from Chofn IP, were entrusted to attend the oral hearing on the same day. The oral hearing was widely reported by the media including China Central Television (CCTV) station. We have also prepared a detailed PPT of the case. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you wish to learn more details.
