Recently, Liu Shen represented a renowned LiDAR company in securing a landmark procedural victory. The Supreme People’s Court (SPC) rendered a retrial ruling, vacating the dismissal rulings issued by the first-instance and second-instance courts, and remanding the case to the first-instance court for further trial.

The SPC’s retrial ruling clarified the legal effect of the Patent Evaluation Report in patent infringement litigation. The SPC held that where the patent right in question is valid at the time the alleged infringing act occurs, the patentee is entitled to file a lawsuit with the people’s court, irrespective of the conclusions stated in the Patent Evaluation Report.

The ruling further defined the evidential weight of the Patent Evaluation Report as a reference document, stating: "As evidence for hearing and resolving patent infringement disputes, the Patent Evaluation Report serves solely to assess the stability of the patent’s validity. It is not a mandatory document that a plaintiff must submit when initiating a civil action for utility model patent infringement. In determining whether circumstances exist for invalidating the patent right in question, the Patent Evaluation Report is merely for reference and cannot replace the findings of patent invalidation administrative decisions and relevant administrative judgments."

By clarifying the legal nature of the Patent Evaluation Report through this case, the SPC set an important precedent for the proper application of such reports in patent infringement proceedings. The Liu Shen team provided full-spectrum representation throughout the first-instance, second-instance and retrial proceedings over the course of two years, ultimately obtaining favorable relief from the Supreme People’s Court.

Lead Attorneys on the Case: AN Zhifei, LI Qi, CHENG Chi, LIU Zhijie