Case Notes: Original Design Anti Plagiarist Complaints Patent Infringement, How to Break It

Is there any reason for this? Who would still be willing to do original design like this

The customer is very angry and cannot imagine that their original design will be accused of infringement by plagiarists.

The beginning of things can be traced back to early 2023.

A company has developed a handheld colorist for gripping smaller workpieces during model painting, with a very smooth operation.

Based on the protection of innovative products, Company A applied for a design patent on March 27, 2023, but felt that the structure was relatively simple and did not apply for a separate utility model patent.

On May 20, 2023, the peaceful days of Company A were slightly stirred up when it discovered that its Bilibili account had been followed by a major competitor in the industry, Y, mainly because Y's reputation in the industry was not very good and he was often criticized for plagiarism.

A company specially posted a self deprecating statement: Hey Yo bro, why are you following me? This makes me very nervous.

But what he didn't know was that what really made him nervous was still ahead.

After being noticed by competitors, Company A didn't take it seriously and only thought about whether to share the joy of new products with everyone and promote them.

So on May 23, 2023, the designer of Company A posted a dynamic on their Bilibili account, a small picture, showcasing the product vividly. It can achieve multi axis adjustment and is deeply loved by fans.

As we all know, life is never smooth sailing. If nothing unexpected happens, the following unexpected events will happen.

Sure enough, by the end of 2023, a customer of Company A received a warning letter from competitor Y, stating that their coloring device product infringed on their patent rights.

Upon receiving the patent, Company A discovered that its competitor Y had submitted a utility model patent application on May 31, 2023, which was almost identical to the product they had designed.

A company is very angry. The product they designed was plagiarized and patented by someone else. In the end, the plagiarist accused them of infringement. This is obviously Li Gui scolding Li Kui. Is there still a law, is there a law?

A company still maintains a relatively calm mind despite being angry. Firstly, the agent was commissioned to conduct a comparison and found that according to the scope of patent protection of the other party, it is highly likely that Company A's product is infringing. Secondly, analyze why the competitor was able to apply for a patent in May, when the product had not yet been fully disclosed. After investigation, it is inferred that the specific content was leaked from the photo sent by the designer.

As soon as the designer heard that the pictures he sent were plagiarized and involved infringement, he went to Tiktok to consult with the law company. At the suggestion of so-called experts, in order to avoid leaving evidence of infringement, the designer deleted the images in the Bilibili dynamic on May 23rd.

——Successfully destroyed evidence that could be used as invalid opponent's patent for existing technology.

Some people may wonder why competitor Y can still apply for a patent for the same product, as Company A has its own design patent.

It should be noted that although Company A applied for its design patent earlier, it was not disclosed until August 2023, after competitor Y applied for the patent. According to the current legal system, a design cannot be used as a conflicting application for a utility model. Therefore, A company's prior design patent application will not affect Y's ability to obtain a utility model patent.

The image of the publicly available product structure on Bilibili that truly affects the opponent's utility model patent rights has been deleted

In order to fully investigate the case and help the enterprise solve possible infringement problems, on the one hand, we search for existing patents and look for possible invalid evidence; On the other hand, investigate the products in the market to see if evidence of prior sales can be found.

Heaven does not disappoint, we have found two key pieces of evidence.

One is similar to the product's pre sales page information, which discloses the main content of Y's utility model, including its theme and clamping parts, and clearly displays the action process on the fragrance sales page. The other is a prior patent on how to connect the clamping assembly with the adjusting mechanism, which is used to prove that the adjusting part has been disclosed.

By combining two pieces of evidence, all nine claims of opponent Y's utility model have been invalidated.

So far, we have successfully helped the client eliminate the risk.

Looking back on the incident now, many people find it unbelievable, but these things that often only appear in the story did indeed happen.

Of course, it is difficult to prevent a professional plagiarist, but if Company A has a relatively complete patent layout in the early stage, it can form a "firewall" when encountering similar situations. On the one hand, it can prevent plagiarists from directly applying for patents for our original designs, avoiding being sued for patent infringement by plagiarists. On the other hand, it can provide good protection for innovative designs and crack down on plagiarist infringement. Taking a step back, it also makes it less easy for competitors to plagiarize.

Some central enterprises are often obsessed with research and development, believing that there have been no intellectual property lawsuits in the industry before and there are no risks involved. It can only be said that past thinking cannot predict future events, and in the current competition in the stock market, intellectual property has evolved into an effective competitive weapon.

For Company A, perhaps the next step is to use this design patent to target the other party's product infringement