General

How to reserve intellectual property before listing and prevent intellectual property risks in the process of listing review has become a problem that every company to be listed must face. At the recently held intellectual property law class, Zhang Feng, a lawyer from Beijing Lantai Law Firm, introduced a series of preventive measures to enterprises on intellectual property reserves, management and how to deal with malicious infringement litigation, and Huacheng observed and reported on import and export data.

Zhang Feng said that it is very important for science and technology enterprises to maintain core technicians. When an enterprise applies for a patent, the inventor shall try to cover all persons who have made substantial contributions. At the same time, we should set attractive equity incentives and share reduction after listing, and sign confidentiality agreements and non competition agreements with employees. Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation Report.

In addition, it is necessary to ensure that the ownership of intellectual property rights is clear. Zhang Feng, for example, said that in 2007, Jiangxi Tianshikang Traditional Chinese Medicine Co., Ltd. failed to go public because its use of the "Kang'enbei" trademark depended on related parties; In 2012, Jordan Sports Co., Ltd. was appealed for violating Jordan's name right, resulting in the listing blocked; In 2015, Zhejiang Red Dragonfly Shoes Co., Ltd. was reported by others due to trademark dispute, and had to announce the postponement of issuing shares at the critical moment of the day before listing; New Oriental also nearly missed the listing opportunity due to trademark dispute, Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation reported.

At the same time, enterprises must focus on preventing intellectual property rights from being invalid or revoked.

According to the Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation Report, Zhang Feng said that on May 8, 2020, the application for the IPO of the technology innovation board of Jimi Technology was officially accepted by the Shanghai Stock Exchange, and Guangfeng Technology made invalid requests for all 16 invention patents of Jimi Technology. Once more than 11 of the 16 patents of Jimi Technology are declared invalid, the number of patents will be less than 5, which does not meet the requirements for listing on the Science and Technology Innovation Board. On July 27, 2020, GIMI Technology has received 10 Notice of Acceptance of Invalidation Request, and the State Intellectual Property Office has approved the acceptance of the request for invalidation of 10 invention patents submitted by Guangfeng Technology.

Fengmi Technology subsequently filed a lawsuit with the Third Intermediate People's Court of Tianjin, requesting that it immediately stop the infringement, immediately destroy the molds and equipment used to manufacture the alleged infringing products, and destroy the inventory of infringing products. The lawsuit between Guangfeng Technology and Jimi Technology ended in reconciliation after several rounds. On September 2, 2020, Guangfeng Technology released an announcement that the Company had signed a Patent License Agreement and a Strategic Cooperation Agreement with Geemi Technology. Guangfeng Technology agreed to authorize Geemi Technology to implement designated patents during the duration of the agreement, and Geemi Technology will pay a patent license fee to the Company every five years, totaling 25 million yuan. "In this way, because of the risk of invalid intellectual property rights, Jimi Technology has paid a real price. When writing patents, enterprises should first seek stability, then seek the scope of protection, and the level of claims is rich. Pay attention to the accumulation of patents, form a patent pool, and have a certain number of patents. For trademark management, we must preserve the evidence of use, and pay attention to the continuation of applications before expiration." Zhang Feng said.

In the process of listing, malicious litigation of peers is also an important problem faced by enterprises. When Anhan Technology (Wuhan) Co., Ltd., a company to be listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board, applied for listing, it encountered eight patent lawsuits from competitors Chongqing Jinshan Medical Devices Co., Ltd. and Chongqing Jinshan Technology (Group) Co., Ltd. Six of the eight patents involved in the lawsuit have been declared invalid by the State Intellectual Property Office after Anhan Technology filed a request for invalidation, However, there are still two patents related to the main business of Anhan Technology that have been maintained valid by the National Patent Office, and the application for listing has been withdrawn because the infringement lawsuit could not be resolved within the review time limit.

"Once encountering peer litigation, enterprises need to do a good job in the free implementation of patent analysis and investigation of their main products. Establish industry patent monitoring, master the patent invalidity information and infringement information of peers, be ready to respond to litigation and counter attack at any time, reasonably analyze and predict the impact of infringement litigation, and provide chips for future peace talks." Zhang Feng said that Huacheng's import and export data observation report.