Anyone who refuses to accept the decision of the Patent Reexamination Board to declare the patent right invalid or maintain the patent right may bring a lawsuit to the people's court within three months from the date of receiving the notice. The people's court shall notify the other party to the procedure for requesting invalidation to participate in the proceedings as a third party.
Explain that this article is about the procedure for the Patent Reexamination Board to make a decision on the request for invalidation of the patent right and the judicial relief provisions for the decision of the Patent Reexamination Board.
1. According to the provisions of the first paragraph of this article, the Patent Reexamination Board shall handle the request for invalidation of the patent according to the following procedures:
1. The request for invalidation of the patent shall be examined in time. According to the detailed rules for the implementation of the Patent Law, the Patent Reexamination Board examines the request for invalidation of the patent right, including formal examination and substantive examination. The formal examination of the patent request for invalidation mainly examines whether the request for invalidation conforms to the prescribed format, whether the request for invalidation States the facts and reasons on which the request for invalidation is based, and whether the reasons put forward conform to the provisions of Article 45 of this Law. If the format does not meet the requirements, the Patent Reexamination Board shall require the claimant to make corrections within a specified time limit. If no correction is made at the expiration of the time limit, the request for invalidation shall be deemed not to have been made. If the facts and reasons on which the request is based are not stated, or the reasons stated do not conform to the provisions of this Law, the Patent Reexamination Board shall not accept it. The Patent Reexamination Board shall send a copy of the received request for invalidation and a copy of the relevant documents to the patentee, asking him to state his opinions within a specified time limit. The patentee may modify the patent document, but shall not expand the scope of protection of the original patent right; If the patentee fails to reply within the specified time limit, it will not affect the trial of the Patent Reexamination Board. The substantive examination of the request for invalidation of a patent refers to the examination of whether the reasons for invalidation of a patent are established, that is, whether the patent that is requested to be invalid does not meet the authorization conditions stipulated by law, including the examination of whether the invention and utility model that have been granted a patent right meet the standards of novelty, creativity and practicality; Whether the design granted the patent right is the same as or similar to the design that has been published or used before the application date; Whether the patented invention-creation is illegal, violates public morality and harms public interests; Wait a minute. After receiving the request for invalidation of the patent right, the Patent Reexamination Board shall conduct a timely examination in accordance with the provisions of this Article, so as to improve the efficiency and quality of examination, handle patent disputes in a timely manner and safeguard the rights and interests of the parties concerned.
2. After examining the request for invalidation of the patent right according to law, the Patent Reexamination Board shall make a decision in time. If the reasons for the request for invalidation are confirmed after examination, the patent right shall be declared invalid or partially invalid according to different circumstances; If the reasons for the request for invalidation are not established after examination, the patent right shall be upheld.
3. After the Patent Reexamination Board makes a decision on the request for invalidation of the patent right, it shall promptly notify the requester and the patentee. The decision to declare the patent right invalid shall be registered and announced by the patent administration department of the State Council and announced to the public. In accordance with the provisions of Article 47 of this Law, a patent right that has been declared invalid shall be deemed invalid ab initio.
Second, the second paragraph of this article stipulates the judicial relief procedure for the parties who are dissatisfied with the reexamination decision of the Patent Reexamination Board. That is, if the claimant and the patentee are dissatisfied with the decision made by the Patent Reexamination Board after receiving the notice of decision, they may bring a lawsuit to the people's court with the Patent Reexamination Board as the defendant within three months from the date of receiving the notice. Because the result of the people's court's handling of the case has an interest relationship with the other party in the procedure for requesting invalidation, the people's court shall notify the other party in the procedure for requesting invalidation to participate in the proceedings as a third party according to law. That is, if the claimant for invalidation refuses to accept the reexamination decision made by the Patent Reexamination Board and brings a lawsuit to the court, the people's court shall notify the patentee to participate in the lawsuit as a third party; If the patentee refuses to accept the decision made by the Patent Reexamination Board to declare the patent invalid or partially invalid, the people's court shall notify the applicant for invalidation to participate in the proceedings as a third party. If the party concerned fails to bring a suit within the time limit, the examination decision of the Patent Reexamination Board will take effect.
According to the provisions of the Patent Law before this amendment, only the parties concerned are dissatisfied with the reexamination decision made by the Patent Reexamination Board on the request for invalidation of the invention patent can bring a lawsuit to the court and request judicial relief; The reexamination decision made by the Patent Reexamination Board on the request for invalidation of the patent right for utility model or design is final. If the parties are not satisfied, they cannot bring a lawsuit to the court. Considering that the patent right of utility model and design, like the patent right of invention, belongs to the civil rights of the parties and should be protected as a whole; If a party refuses to accept the reexamination decision of the Patent Reexamination Board established by the patent administration department on the patent right for utility model and the patent right for design, it shall have the same right to request judicial relief as the invention patent, which is also the principle stipulated in the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights of the World Trade Organization. To this end, this amendment deletes the provision in the original patent law that the decision made by the Patent Reexamination Board on the request to declare the patent right for utility model and design invalid is final. If a party refuses to accept it, he may bring a lawsuit to the people's court and request judicial relief.