With the revising of the national patent law, in the future, those involved in product design or industrial design will have laws to follow and will pay a heavier price for it.
Recently, the State Council promulgated the "State Council Work Plan for 2018 Legislation," and the revised draft of the Patent Law drafted by the State Intellectual Property Office will be submitted to the National People's Congress Standing Committee for deliberation. The Patent Agents Ordinance will also be revised.
It is reported that this is the fourth revision of the "PRC Patent Law" since it was implemented in 1985. The revision has been vigorous, with as many as 33. It is worth noting that it is the second and the forty-second articles of the Patent Law. For the appearance of patent related amendments.
The expression in the second article of the old law is that the term “invention and creation” as used in this Law refers to invention, utility model and design. The invention refers to a new technical solution proposed for the product, method or its improvement. The utility model refers to A new technical solution that is applicable to the product's shape, structure, or combination is proposed. The appearance design refers to the aesthetic sense of the combination of the product's shape, pattern, or its combination, as well as color and shape, and pattern. New design for industrial applications. '
The second revised statement is that “Invention and creation referred to in this Law means inventions, utility models and designs. Inventions refer to new technical solutions proposed for products, methods or improvements. Utility models are Refers to the product Whole or part The shape, structure, or combination thereof proposes a new technical solution that is suitable for practical use. The design refers to the beauty of the product's shape, pattern, or its combination, as well as the combination of color and shape, and pattern, and it is suitable for industrial use. New design of the application. '
Article 42 of the Old Law states that the term for patents for inventions shall be 20 years, and that for utility model patents and design patents shall be ten years, and shall be counted from the date of filing. '
Article 42 of the new amendment stipulates that the term for patent rights for inventions shall be 20 years, and that for utility model patents shall be 10 years. The term of design patents is fifteen years , are counted from the date of filing. '
One is to clarify the nature of the infringement of the overall or partial similarities, and one is to increase the protection period of appearance patents.
A product owner of a domestic toilet appliance company paid attention to the revised draft of the Patent Law. In response to the above two regulations, he stated to the reporter of China National Grid that “this is the emphasis on the appearance of patents. First, we attach importance to the protection of local appearances. The second is the agreement on the extension of the validity period, which fully shows that the emphasis on appearance patents has reached a new height, and also shows the importance of industrial design innovation.
Related patent infringement cases have occurred frequently between home appliance companies in recent years, including the appearance of homogenization.
Take Smart's smart fan introduced in 2016 as an example. Shortly after the product was launched, some media questioned its appearance that there were plagiarisms of the famous fan of the same brand in Bermuda.
Beautiful smart fan (left) vs. Barbuda fan
And millet has launched multiple categories of household electrical appliances also copying behavior. For example, a Zhimi DC inverter floor fan launched by millet two years ago, was also copied by the Tucao said that the same paragraph fans in Bermuda. Earlier, When Lei Jun released the millet air purifier, the outside world questioned the design of the vacant product. The product was suspected of plagiarising in Bermuda.
Millet fan vs. Barbuda fan
Then this kind of plagiarism infringement seems to have been on the 'how can't he get' border.
In the past, products of similar appearance were plagiarism in an eye-opening view, but the patent laws and regulations were not well defined. Now, according to the revised draft, is it possible to combat plagiarism in the future?
In response, the above-mentioned business people judged that 'perhaps not necessarily completely stop, but at least some of the behavior will be stopped by a certain shock.'
It is reported that this revision of the patent law will increase the punishment of infringement. The draft amendment states: 'The people's court may determine to give more than 100,000 yuan, based on the type of patent right, the nature and circumstances of the infringement, and other factors. Compensation below million yuan. '
During the 'two sessions' this year, Shen Changyu, director of the State Intellectual Property Office, stated that it will expedite the revision of the Patent Law, introduce punitive damages, increase the punishment of infringements, and pay a heavy price to the infringers. At the same time, we must actively build knowledge. The work pattern of the protection of property rights, together with the relevant departments, will use a variety of channels such as administrative law enforcement, judicial protection, and arbitration and mediation to form a joint force for the protection of intellectual property rights.
The patent revision was put on the agenda, and it took only half a month to get the proposal from the two sessions.