Claimed Supor infringed its patent rights: KBH to compensate three million yuan and eliminate the effect

2021-04-28
Borsam IP
China IP Today—————————————

Since pointed out that Zhejiang Supor Co., Ltd. misappropriated its patented technology, Zhejiang KBH Kitchenware Co., Ltd. published a statement on the entire page of "Yangcheng Evening News," and presided over Weibo topics, held a press conference, etc., directly accused Supor of infringement. On 5 January, Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court determined that Supor Company did not infringe, and ruled that KBH Company published a statement on the "Yangcheng Evening News" (full page), website, Weibo, WeChat public account, etc. to eliminate the impact, and compensate Supor Company 3 million yuan.

 

On 21 October, 2019, the "Yangcheng Evening News" published a "Statement" by KBH on the full page A3, which included "Our company discovered that Zhejiang Supor Co., Ltd. used KBH's honeycomb non-stick patented technology without authorization, and imitated and sold infringing products, seriously damaged the legitimate rights and interests of KBH."

 

At the same time, the Weibo topics hosted by "KBH Official Weibo" continued to ferment, directly pointed to Supor's infringement. KBH also issued a "Media Invitation Letter", stated: "We have been imitated but never surpassed" and "We invite you to participate in the Press Conference of 'witness originality'".

 

On 21 November, 2019, Supor Company formally filed a lawsuit, accusing KBH Company of the aforementioned actions as commercial defamation and claimed 15 million yuan for compensation.

 

Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court held that the core meaning of the series of information released by KBH is that Supor has infringed its patent rights. However, when the above information was released, no judicial or administrative decision determined that Supor constituted an infringement of KBH's patent rights.

 

The Court noted that the patent right claimed by KBH Company is a process patent, and its infringement determination generally needs to be determined by comparing the accused method with the patent method after mastering the specific steps of the alleged infringement method. It cannot be concluded simply through product comparison. When KBH released the information, it could not determine the specific manufacturing method of Supor’s products, as well as determine that the method infringed its patent.

 

The Court found that KBH’s release of the above-mentioned information lacked factual basis, which could easily mislead the relevant public and make people mistakenly believe that Supor’s infringement of KBH’s patent rights is an established fact. The above-mentioned information released by KBH is false and misleading information regulated by the Anti-Unfair Competition Law, which has caused damage to Supor's business reputation and product reputation. KBH Company constituted a commercial slander and should bear civil liabilities such as eliminating the impact and compensating for losses, and thus made the above judgment.

Source: China IP Today