"Core technology" for Gree Electric is not only a brand label, allowing consumers to associate the innovation and quality of Gree Electric Appliances, but also a powerful legal rights protection tool, combined with a comprehensive patent protection system, to help Gree Electric Appliances consolidate its market position in the fierce competition. Gree Electric Appliances selectively carries out a number of rights protection work every year, and in 2022, Sanju Sunshine will sue Yangzi Air Conditioner for infringement in two cases.
On September 1, 2021, Sanju Sunshine and Yiju Law Firm jointly 201110186967 Gree Electric AppliancesThe invention patent of "evaporator" No. X was sued by Yangzi Air Conditioning Company to the Intermediate People's Court of Nanjing Municipality, Jiangsu Province. The patent in question mainly describes the structural parts and corresponding structural design of an evaporator, and the "evaporator" is the indoor part of a common split air conditioner.
After unpacking and comparing the alleged infringing product with the patent involved in the case, the judge found that the allegedly infringing product fell within the scope of patent protection in this case. The defendant Yangzi Company then used the prior art defense to assert that the alleged infringing product fell within the scope of protection of the patent in question and the technical features involved in the case were the same as the earlier application number 2005800513410's patent "evaporator compartment closure structure" is the same, even if the alleged infringing product is not produced in accordance with the above prior patent.
The main technical features described in claim 1 of the patent in question.
We assert that the parts corresponding to the "wind shield" in the technical features involved in the case are different from the prior patent "enclosing element 32" in terms of setting method and function, so they are neither the same nor the same. Among them, the "wind shield" extends along the gap in a long strip, which will not completely block the gap between the fin assembly and the angle frame, which is intended to solve the technical problems of uneven air output and serious condensation; "Closure element 32" pursues close contact with the evaporator coil 29 in order to achieve a gap-free closure so that the air is only exhausted from the specific exhaust port.
The court agreed with our view and found that Yangzi Air Conditioning constituted infringement in the (2021) Su 01 Min Chu No. 2817 Judgment and ordered Yangzi Air Conditioning to cease all infringement. In terms of the amount of compensation, the court determined the amount of compensation of 500,000 yuan by applying statutory damages, taking into account the value contribution of the patented technology, the scale of the infringing product, the nature of the infringement and other factors.
On the same day as the above-mentioned "evaporator" case, there was another patent infringement case of Gree Electric Appliances v. Yangzi Air Conditioner, which was also jointly led by Sanju Sunshine and Beijing Yiju Law Firm, and also won the victory. The Nanjing Intermediate People's Court rendered the (2021) Su 01 Min Chu No. 2818 Civil Judgment, ordering the defendant Yangzi Air Conditioner to immediately stop manufacturing, offering to sell, and selling infringing on the plaintiff Gree Electric Appliance No. 201110238207No. 9 "motor fixed structure and air conditioner with the motor fixed structure" invention patent involved in the product, and compensated the plaintiff for economic losses and reasonable expenses of 300,000 yuan.
In addition, during the defense of the above two cases, the defendant Yangzi Air Conditioner also filed invalidation claims against the two patents involved in the case, both of which were resolved by our lawyer. The two patents were maintained in full validity in the examination decisions No. 55931 and No. 56581 of the State Intellectual Property Office.