Shanghai, China – On June 13, The Shanghai Intellectual Property Court delivered the first-instance judgment for the case of Shanghai MicroPort Medical (Group) Co., Ltd vs NewMed Medical Co., Ltd. and Yu Qifeng, Wang Haishan, Qin Tao, Liang Yuchen and Chen Jing over ownership of patent application and patent right disputes. The court ruled that the patent right for the utility model named Electropolishing Devices of the application number 201620366783.X and the patent application right for the invention named Electropolishing Devices of the application number 201610269615.3 should fall under the ownership of Shanghai MicroPort Medical (Group) Co., Ltd.
The plaintiff, namely Shanghai MicroPort Medical (Group) Co., Ltd ("The Group") has been engaged in the R&D, manufacturing and sales of high-end medical devices since 1998, and has been dedicated to technological innovation and breakthroughs. The Group has built up the ownership of over 3,100 patents or patent applications and created nearly 100 know-hows that are unique and never open to the public. The defendant of NewMed Medical Co., Ltd. ("NewMed Medical") was founded in March 2015, with the other defendants, namely Yu Qifeng, Qin Tao, Wang Haishan and Liang Yuchen, being former employees of The Group. Qin Tao, Wang Haishan and Liang Yuchen, who left The Group after February 2015, had owned the authority and opportunity to be in contact with the electropolishing technology and related devices. After leaving the Group, the three former employees filed patent applications about the technology, which is exclusively owned by The Group, in the name of NewMed Medical without the authorization of The Group, which seriously infringed on the legal rights of The Group. After learning the event, The Group filed a lawsuit at the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court to firmly defend its legal rights by judicial means. The Shanghai Intellectual Property Court has ascertained and established the facts that the technology had essentially existed at The Group before the departures of Qin Tao and Wang Haishan, while NewMed Medical failed to submit any evidence to support its argument that Yu Qifeng, the inventor, actually completed the invention of the technology at issue. Therefore, the rights basis of NewMed Medical for the patent and pending patent in disputes does not exist. The Shanghai Intellectual Property Court decided that the right of the patent and pending patent in disputes should be both owned by The Group.
During the past 20 years since its establishment, The Group has been focused on independent innovation. The Group not only values R&D and accumulation of technologies on its own, but also owns the capability and resolve to defend its own rights by judicial means. Previously, The Group had by judicial means won back joint ownerships of six patents or patent applications, which had been in rights disputes involving NewMed Medical.