It must be necessary...otherwise what is the purpose of a patent? It is to protect the right to produce this product within a certain period of time. However, there are some questions here, such as: What is the status of the other party’s patent? Is it the rights maintenance stage? Is it possible to negotiate with the other party to obtain the production and sales rights by paying fees to the patentee? How different is your technology from that of the other party? Does it count as patent infringement?
If you are worried, it is recommended to consult a patent agency or law firm or do an infringement analysis.
Relevant legal provisions: ("Patent Law of the People's Republic of China")
Article 60: Implementing a patent without the permission of the patentee shall infringe the patent If a dispute arises over the rights, the parties shall resolve it through negotiation; if they are unwilling to negotiate or the negotiation fails, the patentee or interested party may file a lawsuit in the People's Court or request the patent administration department to handle the matter. When the patent management department handles the matter, if it determines that the infringement is established, it may order the infringer to immediately stop the infringement. If the party is dissatisfied, it may, within 15 days from the date of receipt of the handling notice, comply with the "Administrative Litigation of the People's Republic of China and the People's Republic of China" Law of the People's Republic of China; if the infringer does not file a lawsuit or stop the infringement upon expiration of the time limit, the department managing patent affairs may apply to the People's Court for compulsory enforcement. At the request of the parties concerned, the handling patent management department may mediate the amount of compensation for patent infringement; if mediation fails, the parties may file a lawsuit in the People's Court in accordance with the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China.
Article 61 If a patent infringement dispute involves an invention patent for a new product manufacturing method, the unit or individual manufacturing the same product shall provide proof that the manufacturing method of its product is different from the patented method.
If a patent infringement dispute involves a utility model patent or a design patent, the people's court or the department managing patent affairs may require the patentee or interested party to issue a certificate issued by the patent administration department of the State Council regarding the relevant utility model or design. The patent right evaluation report produced after retrieval, analysis and evaluation is used as evidence for hearing and handling patent infringement disputes.
Article 62 In a patent infringement dispute, if the accused infringer has evidence to prove that the technology or design he implemented belongs to the existing technology or existing design, it does not constitute an infringement of patent rights.
Article 63 Anyone who counterfeits a patent shall, in addition to bearing civil liability in accordance with the law, be ordered to make corrections by the patent administrative department and make an announcement, confiscate the illegal gains, and may also impose a fine of not more than four times the illegal gains; If there is no illegal income, a fine of not more than 200,000 yuan may be imposed; if a crime is constituted, criminal liability shall be pursued in accordance with the law.
Article 64 When the patent management department investigates and handles suspected patent counterfeiting based on the evidence that has been obtained, it may question the relevant parties and investigate the circumstances related to the suspected illegal acts; Conduct on-site inspections at the place where the conduct occurred; review and copy contracts, invoices, account books and other relevant materials related to the suspected illegal conduct; inspect products related to the suspected illegal conduct, and seal or detain products with evidence that they are counterfeit patented products.
When the patent management department exercises its powers specified in the preceding paragraph in accordance with the law, the parties concerned shall provide assistance and cooperation and shall not refuse or obstruct it.
Article 65 The amount of compensation for patent infringement shall be determined based on the actual losses suffered by the right holder due to the infringement; if the actual losses are difficult to determine, they may be determined based on the benefits obtained by the infringer due to the infringement. If it is difficult to determine the loss of the right holder or the benefit obtained by the infringer, it shall be reasonably determined by reference to the multiple of the patent license fee. The amount of compensation should also include the reasonable expenses paid by the right owner to stop the infringement.
If it is difficult to determine the loss of the right holder, the benefits obtained by the infringer and the patent license fee, the people's court may determine the award of 10,000 yuan based on factors such as the type of patent right, the nature and circumstances of the infringement, etc. Compensation of more than one million yuan and less than one million yuan.