Case 1: Dispute over patent ownership between Century Blog and Jinqiao Building Materials Factory
On April 20, 2002, Century Blog and Jinqiao Building Materials Factory signed a joint agreement. The agreement stipulates that based on the combination of the unpowered ventilating fan product of Century Bowei Company and the variable pressure exhaust duct product of Jinqiao Building Materials Factory, the best effect of eliminating smoke smell, preventing backdraft and preventing smoke odor can be achieved. The two parties signed the agreement Joint Agreement. Article 1 of the agreement stipulates: "The joint operation period of both parties is 10 years. During the joint operation period, the products jointly researched by both parties are not allowed to be transferred without authorization or forged privately. They must be submitted to the relevant departments for approval, and both parties should participate jointly." In addition, , the two parties also agreed on the issue of cooperative sales of products. On January 1, 2003, the two parties signed a supplementary agreement. The agreement stipulates that in order to enable the product to open the market as soon as possible, the terms agreed in the original agreement will be supplemented and modified. The agreement mainly involves the sale of the products involved. On February 28, 2003, the two parties signed a memorandum on the products involved, mainly involving issues such as product sales and quality.
During the joint venture period stipulated in the agreement, Century Blog signed a contract with Peng Rong, a party outside the case, on April 28, 2002, and hired Peng Rong as the company's technical consultant to develop a new type of anti-smoke, Odor exhaust pipe. During the employment period, Century Blog agreed to allow Peng Rong to be employed by other companies. On May 22, 2002, Jinqiao Building Materials Factory hired Peng Rong as the factory's technical consultant and issued a letter of appointment. On September 13, 2002, Jinqiao Building Materials Factory signed a "Product Quality Inspection Letter of Authorization" with the National Air Conditioning Equipment Quality Supervision and Inspection Center. On October 22, 2002, Century Blog signed an agreement with the Beijing Architectural Design Standardization Office. The agreement stipulates that Century Blog entrusts the Beijing Architectural Design Standardization Office to compile an atlas of the "new natural diversion smoke prevention and backflow exhaust duct system". For this purpose, Century Blog paid a preparation fee of 7,000 yuan. In November 2002, the Beijing Architectural Design Standardization Office compiled the "Natural Diversion Residential Kitchen and Bathroom Exhaust Channel 02QB12" atlas.
In 2002, Zhang Guangzhong of Jinqiao Building Materials Factory filed a utility model patent application with the State Intellectual Property Office for the "natural diversion smoke prevention and backflow exhaust duct system". On October 8, 2003, the State Intellectual Property Office granted Zhang Guangzhong the utility model patent right for the "natural diversion anti-smoke and anti-backflow exhaust duct system". The patent number is 02285436.3, and the designer is Zhang Guangzhong. The patent claim states: "The natural diversion type smoke cross-flow and backflow prevention exhaust duct system has an exhaust duct from the bottom of the building to the roof, and a non-powered exhaust fan is installed at the top of the exhaust duct. Its characteristics In the exhaust duct, an inducer is installed at the exhaust outlet of each floor, and a guide pipe is installed between the two inducers, and a gap is maintained between the inducer and the guide pipe. "Century Bowei Company. After learning about it, they claimed that the patented product involved in the case, the "natural diversion anti-smoke cross-flow and anti-backflow exhaust duct system" was a product jointly developed by both parties during the cooperation period, and that they had held a press conference and conducted expenditure monitoring for the patented product involved in the case. Fees, preparation fees and other expenses. According to the agreement between the two parties, the corresponding rights to the products jointly developed by both parties shall be enjoyed jointly by both parties. Therefore, the patent rights involved in the case shall be owned by both parties.
After trial, the court held that the agreement signed by both parties was a true expression of intention and complied with relevant legal provisions. The agreement was legal and valid. According to the stipulations of the contract, the products jointly researched by both parties during the joint venture are not allowed to be transferred without authorization and must be reported to the relevant departments for approval, with the participation of both parties. And the two parties made it clear in the agreement that the purpose of the cooperation is to combine the unpowered ventilation fans produced by Century Bowei Company with the variable voltage exhaust ducts produced by Jinqiao Building Materials Factory, so as to achieve the effect of eliminating smoke odor and preventing back draft and smoke odor. . Before the application date of the patent involved in the case, Century Blog Micro Company conducted entrusted compilation and commissioned testing of the patented products involved in the case. The main features of the patented technology involved in the case were clarified in the compiled atlas and testing report.
Therefore, the patented product involved in the case, "Natural diversion smoke cross-flow prevention and backflow prevention exhaust duct system" should be a product jointly developed by both parties during the cooperation between Century Bowei Company and Jinqiao Building Materials Factory. According to the agreement between the two parties, both parties *** The corresponding rights to the products jointly developed should be enjoyed jointly by both parties, so the patent involved in the case should be exclusively owned by both parties.
Case Analysis
According to the relevant provisions of my country’s Patent Law, for inventions and creations completed through cooperation between two or more units or individuals, unless otherwise agreed, the right to apply for a patent belongs to *** After the application is approved, the unit or individual who applied for the patent shall be the patentee. The same provisions are also found in contract law. Here, the primary condition for being an independent inventor and creator is that he must make a creative contribution to the invention. Therefore, when judging whether the cooperative unit can jointly own the patent right, it is necessary to determine what the substantive characteristics of the invention are, and then determine whether the party concerned has made a creative contribution to the invention. Generally, the claims shall prevail. In this case, according to the joint agreement signed between Century Bowei Company and Jinqiao Building Materials Factory, the first paragraph states the purpose of the contract and the subject matter of the cooperative product, which is "based on the combination of Century Bowei Company's product unpowered ventilator and Jinqiao Building Materials Factory's The product's pressure-changing smoke exhaust can achieve the best effect of eliminating smoke odor, preventing back draft and preventing smoke odor. The two parties signed this joint agreement." Article 1 of the agreement states that "the joint operation period of both parties is 10 years. During the joint operation period, the products jointly researched by both parties are not allowed to be transferred without authorization or forged privately. They must be submitted to the relevant departments for approval and both parties jointly participate." When there is ambiguity between the parties, the agreement in this article should be interpreted based on the purpose of the entire contract. When the agreement was signed, it was uncertain how best to eliminate smoke odor, prevent drafts, and prevent smoke odor by combining existing technologies, which required cooperation between the two parties for research. In this sense, the joint agreement signed by the two parties is in the nature of cooperative development. During the joint venture, both parties hired relevant technical personnel to participate in the research and development work. Moreover, Century Blog Micro Company participated in the entrusted monitoring work and the entrusted compilation of the atlas before the patent application date in this case, and paid the fees, which were all actions to fulfill the cooperation agreement between the two parties. Therefore, the patented product involved in the case, the "natural diversion smoke prevention and backflow exhaust duct" should be a product jointly developed by both parties during the cooperation between Century Bowei Company and Jinqiao Building Materials Factory. According to the agreement between the two parties, both parties agreed The corresponding rights to the products developed shall be enjoyed jointly by both parties. Century Blog's claim that it should be the co-patentee of the patent in dispute in this case has factual and legal basis and should be supported by the court.