On April 20, 2002, Weber Company signed a joint venture agreement with Jinqiao Building Materials Factory. According to the agreement, based on the cooperation between Weber's unpowered ventilator and the variable pressure exhaust duct of Jinqiao Building Materials Factory, the two parties signed a joint agreement to achieve the best effect of eliminating smoke smell, preventing backward wind and preventing smoke smell. Article 1 of the agreement stipulates: "The term of the joint venture between the two parties is 10 year. During the joint venture, the products studied by both parties shall not be transferred or forged without authorization, and must be reported to the relevant departments for approval, and both parties shall participate together. " In addition, the two sides also reached an agreement on cooperative sales of products. On June 65438+1 October1day, 2003, both parties signed a supplementary agreement. According to the agreement, in order to bring the products to the market as soon as possible, the terms agreed in the original agreement should be supplemented and modified. The main content of the agreement involves the sale of the products involved. On February 28, 2003, the two parties signed a memorandum on the products involved, mainly involving product sales and quality.
During the joint venture period agreed in the agreement, Weber signed a contract with Peng Rong, an outsider in the case, on April 28, 2002, and hired Peng Rong as the company's technical consultant to develop a new type of smoke-proof and odor-proof exhaust pipeline. During the employment period, Weber Company agreed that Peng Rong would be employed by other companies. On May 22, 2002, Jinqiao Building Materials Factory hired Peng Rong as its technical consultant and issued a letter of appointment. On September 13, 2002, Jinqiao Building Materials Factory signed the Power of Attorney for Product Quality Inspection with the National Air Conditioning Equipment Quality Supervision and Inspection Center. 10 On June 22nd, Weber Company signed an agreement with Beijing Office of Architectural Design Standardization. According to the agreement, Weber Company entrusted Beijing Architectural Design Standardization Office to compile the atlas of New Natural Diversion, Smoke Prevention, Cross-flow and Backflow Smoke Exhaust Pipeline System. To this end, Weber paid a compilation fee of 7000 yuan. In June, 2002, Beijing Office of Architectural Design Standardization compiled the atlas 02QB 12 of Kitchen and Bathroom Exhaust Duct with Natural Diversion.
In 2002, Zhang Guangzhong of Jinqiao Building Materials Factory submitted a patent application for the utility model of "natural diversion smoke prevention and backflow prevention smoke exhaust pipeline system" to China National Intellectual Property Administration. On June 8th, 2003, 10, China National Intellectual Property Administration granted Zhang Guangzhong the patent right for the utility model of "Natural-oriented smoke-crossing-prevention and backflow-prevention smoke exhaust system", with the patent number of 02285436.3, and the designer was Zhang Guangzhong. The patent claim states: "The natural guide type smoke string and backflow prevention exhaust duct system has an exhaust duct from the bottom of the building to the top of the building, and an unpowered exhaust fan is installed at the top of the exhaust duct, which is characterized in that: in the exhaust duct, a deflector is installed at the air outlet of each floor, and a guide pipe is installed between the two deflectors, and a gap is left between the deflector and the guide pipe." After learning about it, Weber Company claimed that the patented product "natural flow smoke prevention and backflow prevention exhaust duct system" was jointly developed by both parties during the cooperation period, and held a press conference on the patented products involved, and paid monitoring fees, compilation fees and other expenses. According to the agreement of both parties, the corresponding rights of products jointly developed by both parties shall be enjoyed by both parties, so the patents involved shall be owned by both parties.
After trial, the court held that the agreement signed by both parties was a true expression of will, in line with relevant laws and regulations, and the agreement was legal and valid. According to the contract, the products researched by both parties during the joint venture period are not allowed to be transferred without authorization, and must be reported to the relevant departments for approval. In addition, it is clear in the agreement that the purpose of cooperation is to combine Weber's unpowered ventilator with the variable pressure exhaust duct of Jinqiao Building Materials Factory to achieve the effect of eliminating smoke smell, preventing backward wind and preventing smoke smell. Before the patent application date involved, Weber Company commissioned the compilation and inspection of the patented products involved, and both the compilation atlas and the inspection report made clear the main features of the patented technology involved. Therefore, the patented product "natural diversion smoke-proof cross backflow-proof exhaust duct system" involved in this case should be jointly developed by both parties during the cooperation between Weber Company and Jinqiao Building Materials Factory. According to the agreement of both parties, the corresponding rights of the products developed by both parties shall be enjoyed by both parties, so the patents involved shall be owned by both parties.
case analysis
According to the relevant provisions of China's patent law, unless otherwise agreed, the right to apply for a patent belongs to the same unit or individual for an invention-creation jointly completed by two or more units or individuals. After the application is approved, the applicant unit or individual shall be the patentee. The Contract Law also has the same provisions. Here, the first condition to become a co-inventor is to make creative contributions to invention and creation. Therefore, when judging whether the cooperative units can jointly own the patent right, it is necessary to first determine what the substantive characteristics of the invention are, and then determine whether the parties have made creative contributions to the invention. Generally, the claims shall prevail. In this case, according to the joint agreement signed by Weber Company and Jinqiao Building Materials Factory, the first paragraph clearly states the purpose of the contract and the target of the cooperative products, that is, "Based on the cooperation between Weber Company's unpowered ventilator and Jinqiao Building Materials Factory's variable pressure smoke exhaust, the two parties can sign a joint agreement, which can achieve the best effect of eliminating smoke smell, preventing backward wind and preventing cross-smoke smell." Article 1 of the agreement reads: "The term of the joint venture between the two parties is1. During the joint venture, the products researched by both parties are not allowed to be transferred without authorization or forged privately, and must be reported to the relevant departments for approval, and both parties participate. " If the agreement between the two parties is not clear, the agreement in this article should be interpreted from the purpose of the whole contract. When signing this agreement, it should be uncertain whether the combination of existing technologies can achieve the best effect of eliminating smoke smell, preventing back smoking and preventing cross-smoke smell, which requires the cooperation of both parties. In this sense, the joint agreement signed by both parties has the nature of cooperative development. During the joint venture, both parties hired relevant technical personnel to participate in research and development. Moreover, Weber Company participated in the entrusted monitoring work and commissioned the compilation of the atlas before the patent application date of this case, and paid the fees, all of which were the acts of fulfilling the cooperation agreement between the two parties. Therefore, the patented product "natural flow smoke prevention and backflow prevention exhaust duct" involved in the case should be a product jointly developed by Weber Company and Jinqiao Building Materials Factory during their cooperation. According to the agreement of both parties, the products jointly developed by both parties shall enjoy the corresponding rights. Weber's claim to sue the patent in this case has factual and legal basis with the patentee, and the court should support it.