5.15.2019

PEPSI filed suit against Indian farmer


PEPSI, a US food and beverage manufacturer famous for its PEPSI CO., sued the Indian farmers for trademark infringement. The goods that were subject to trademark infringement were potatoes, not cola. Pepsi said that they filed a lawsuit for damages with trademark infringement, arguing that farmers grew their trademarked potatoes without permission.

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India's largest potato buyer
According to an Indian business official, PEPSI is India's largest fair-grade potato buyer. Recently, PEPSI's potato chip have become very popular, and they are purchasing large amounts of potatoes from India every year to produce potato chips. An Indian official says the lawsuit is designed to counter the unauthorized use of potato varieties registered as a trademark from the company's standpoint and is a legitimate exercise of corporate rights.

pixabay.com

Indian farmer appealing for being unfair
On the other hand, the accused Indian farmer said that he didn’t violate the Indian Agricultural Law. He argued that cultivating some crops or seeds would not violate the law unless they were sold or transformed the trademarks. A farmer's group in India said PEPSI is infringing India's food sovereignty. He will fight to the end with the accused farmer.

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Controversy over big companies and local business in foreign countries
In 2017, there has been a boycott of PEPSI due to infringement of food sovereignty in India  as well. It is also argued that PEPSI and other major US retailers are violating the local business of India by threatening economic sovereignty rather than simple trademark rights. The confrontation between large corporations and local business is not limited to a few countries.







5.09.2019

[WIPSTUDY #3] Taiwan- Patent Litigation case study #3


Following up #2,
this time we're going to see litigation action with a few of important documents that you need to check with another new litigation cases focusing on;

  • IPR Request
  • Invalidation Search (+IDS)
  • Inter Partes Review Certificate
  • Inter Partes Re-exam Certificate 


                                                        < search n analysis database : WIPS Global >

3-1. Litigation Action (case 1)

This time let us start with a new case of patent infringement litigation. 

Dr. Chien-Min Sung vs Kinik Company

wipsglobal.com > US litigation search
 
  • Case type : Infringement
  • Court name : Delaware Dist.
  • Termination by : Voluntary dismissal 
  • Product : Chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) tools such as the CMP Diamond disk.
  •  Patent : US 8777699 
This case filed by Dr. Chien-Min Sung claiming that the '699 patent he owned the rights in the USA was infringed by the Kinik Company. As this case was closed by voluntary dismissal, more detail on trial information is needed.    

Below is the detail information through the trial search of the patent.
         
wipsglobal.com > Trial/Appeal search
   
  • Court name :  PTAB (Patent Trial Appeal Board
  • PTAB case : IPR (Inter Partes Review)
  • PTAB Outcome : All instituted claims invalidated/ cancelled
  • Claims challenged : 1-19
  • Claims instituted : 1-12 and 17-19
  • Invalidated cancelled claims : 1-12 and 17-19
  • PTAB status : Final written decision 


From the details PTAB information, it's learned that the defendant requested IPR and this case closed with some of instituted claims invalidated in the end. 

wipsglobal.com > Invalidation advisor

🔍WIPS Global's Invalidation Advisor is a analysis tool recognizing the date of novelty and creativity, which is an intellectual product of WIPS logic from multi-year's research and know-how. 

Prior art references searched in Invalidation Advisor tool above are found which are expected to be based on invalidation. And they're referred as the prior art references of the corresponding patent in the docket of the trial as below.

IPR docket referring the prior art references


             ⏪ Docket of the trial 
             ; Final Written Decision














  
  
⏪ says "Claims 1-12 and 17-19 of the '699 patent are held unpatentable; ..... "











⏫ Inter Partes Review Certificate

One of very important steps during searching invalidation documents is to check IDS (Information Disclosure Statement). 
As only exists in the US, IDS is the obligation of the applicant to disclosure all the information that they have referred to. Violating IDS means that the patent could be unenforceable. So it must not be overlooked. 

wipsglobal.com > Invalidation Advisor > IDS check


⏪ literature in the highlight box are the patents that might not be included as the reference in the document of the corresponding patent.


3-2. Litigation Action (case 2)

Let's take a look another case showing different kind of docket which is also a part of litigation action.

Industry Technology Research Institute vs LG Corporation

wipsglobal.com > US Litigation search
Litigation information  
  • Case Type : Infringement
  • Court Name : New Jersey Dist.
  • Termination by : Likely settlement
  • Product : BD590 Blu-Ray disc player, GP08LU30 Optical media super-multi rewriter, .....
  • Plaintiff : Industry Technology Research Institute
  • Defendant : LG Corporation
  • Patent : US 7672198 
wipsglobal.com > Trial/Appeal search


Trial/Appeal information
  • Trial/Appeal type : Appeal
  • Application type : Re-exam
  • Decision document type : Decision
  • Patent : 7672198

⏪ Patent Board Decision of 
Inter Partes Re-examination

; The Examiner's decisions not to adopt the proposed rejections are affirmed.


The infringement case between ITRI and LG Corp. was closed by settlement of two parties as the case was requested Re-examination. 

wipsglobal.com > patent search > view detail


⏫ Inter Partes Re-examination Certificate



Continued .......>>




5.07.2019

Seoul Semiconductor filed suit against US lighting company

Seoul Semiconductor, a Korean LED company, filed a patent infringement lawsuit against US lighting company SATCO. Seoul Semiconductor claimed that SATCO infringed on its 11 patents. There is interest in this litigation between Korean and US lighting companies.

Seoulsemicon.com

LED driver patent of Seoul Semiconductor
The patent that was the focus of the patent lawsuit is the LED driver patents owned by Seoul Semiconductor. The patents include patents applied to lighting products mounted on walls, ceilings, etc. as well as replacement light bulbs, and it is said that dimmable driver technology capable of controling brightness and sequential drive technology without flicker are described. In particular, Acrich drivers are highly valued because they account for over 70% of the world's household bulbs with high-voltage LED driver technology and multi-chip technology capable of integrating multiple LED chips in a small area.

pixabay.com

What are the chances of winning?
Seoul Semiconductor is on the rise, winning all of its overseas patents in the LED-related patent lawsuits. In particular, it continues to win in the LED-related patent lawsuit, winning both lawsuits against Everlight, a Taiwan-based company that has filed disputes over patents related to the Acrich technology. The lawsuit is likely to win as the lawsuits related to the Acriche technology are prioritized.

pixabay.com

Seoul Semiconductor actively responds
Unlike other Korean companies, Seoul Semiconductor continues to actively respond to patent lawsuits filed against foreign companies. According to the Vice President at Sales division of Seoul Semiconductor, they’re investing US$102 bn. in annual development costs. In addition, the company has filed a lawsuit to prevent unfair competition in its efforts to develop innovative products and abuse of investment. I wonder if Seoul Semiconductor will win the race against SATCO again this time.