Recently, the Beijing Intellectual Property Court issued administrative judgment (2021) Jing 73 Xing Chu No. 11114 in the administrative dispute over the invalidation of a utility model patent, filed by Qingdao Leiting Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. (hereinafter “Leiting Heavy Industry”) against the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) and a third party, Nantong Divote EnergySaving Fan Co., Ltd. (hereinafter “Divote Company”). The court ruled to dismiss the claims of the plaintiff Leiting Heavy Industry.

Previously, Leiting Heavy Industry had filed an invalidation request with CNIPA against Chinese Utility Model Patent No. 201420741756.7 owned by Divote Company (title: “Axial Flow EnergySaving Fan”, hereinafter “the patent in suit”). After examination, CNIPA issued Invalidation Decision No. 48395, deciding to maintain the patent in suit valid.

Beijing Caihe Law Firm was retained by Divote Company to act as the patentee’s representative in the invalidation proceeding, and to serve as litigation counsel for the third party in the above administrative lawsuit.

Key highlights of the case:

The blade structure of the patent in suit differs significantly from the blade structure of the comparative document cited by the invalidation requester (the plaintiff in the litigation). To help the collegial panel understand the distinction, lawyers from Caihe specially prepared structural schematic diagrams of both designs, thereby clearly illustrating the differences between them during the court hearing.