Plasseraud IP wins a victory in a patent infringement dispute in China through the first mediation before WIPO China

In this case, dated late 2017, Sartorius - a major player in the field of laboratory equipment for the handling of biopharmaceutical products - suspected the Chinese company LePure of manufacturing and selling, on the Chinese market, protective bags and casings used by major laboratories for the transport of frozen pharmaceutical products. The Chinese patent at stake i.e. ZL2008801219626.9 (which belongs to a US subsidiary of Sartorius) was asserted against said presumably infringing products.

Plasseraud IP, France's leading IP law firm, assisted Sartorius at all stages of the dispute, relying on its subsidiary Plasseraud IP Anti-Counterfeiting, for the early phase of gathering information needed to establish evidence, and on its patent experts both in France and in China with its Shanghai office.

As a result, LePure was sued for infringement of Sartorius' patent before the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court in October 2019.

In the course of the proceedings, the parties agreed to accept a mediation conducted by the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center China. This is the first ever mediation by WIPO Chinese center in an intellectual property dispute in China. This alternative mode is intended to enable faster dispute resolution and often mitigates the financial risk, notably by avoiding a long trial with an uncertain outcome. This has allowed the resolution of the dispute, to the benefit of plaintiff, Sartorius. LePure company committed to cease the infringement, to pay damages and to withdraw a request for invalidation of the patent that it had filed before the Shanghai IP Court.

Philippe Louvel, Plasseraud IP, explains: "This victory, in terms of defending foreign companies' patents on Chinese ground, is only the second of its kind, and the first obtained through WIPO mediation. It is a strong signal from China in the fight against infringers, which undoubtedly marks the beginning of a new era for companies that until now have had trouble protecting their inventions and were reluctant to exercise their patent rights in China. This is very encouraging, especially for midsized and small companies.

This victory is a further proof of the Plasseraud IP Group's strong ability to support its customers thoroughly and effectively in their need for efficiency and innovation, notably by offering them first-rate services in the fight against counterfeiting and support throughout the world.

Plasseraud IP accompanied Sartorius with:
- Philippe Louvel, Plasseraud IP, Partner, in charge of the Derambure Conseil
- Atom Tong, Chinese Patent Attorney, based in Paris, Plasseraud IP, Key player in the case, 
- Kirt Zhang, Chinese Patent Attorney, Plasseraud IP Shanghai 
- Local law firm : DeHeng law firm
- Plasseraud IP Anti-Counterfeiting contributed to this success, with Philippe Van Eeckhout, acting to identify the counterfeiters locally. . 

Contacts press

AVOCOM / Charlotte Vier + Nathalie Merle / +33(0)1 48 24 00 40 or +33(0)1 48 24 00 39 / ch.vier@avocom.fr + n.merle@avocom.fr

About Plasseraud IP

Plasseraud IP is the leading group of intellectual property attorneys in France and a leader in Europe. It brings together more than 350 professionals, including 150 Industrial Property Attorneys (CPI), lawyers and engineers. In order to protect and enhance the value of intellectual property assets and to assist its clients in all issues relating to patents and trademarks, the group also includes experts in contract law, digital and personal data law, consultants acting in anti-counterfeiting seizures and lawyers. The group has offices in 8 French cities (Paris, Lyon, Lille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Angoulême, Grenoble, Rennes) and now 5 international locations (Shanghai, Prague, Madrid, Alicante and Munich), and has Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Spanish and German teams.