How Important is the Burden of Proof in Patent Case?

The Civil Final Judgment No. 725 of the Intellectual Property Court of SPC (2019) disclosed a patent infringement dispute case. In determining the amount of compensation for infringement, the Supreme People’s Court held in the second instance that the right holder had actively fulfilled the burden of proof in patent case in the litigation, and based on the evidence related to the infringement profit submitted by him and reasonable calculation, the amount of compensation claimed by the patent holder could be supported.

In a patent infringement dispute case, if the right holder has done his best to actively provide evidence for the infringement damages, and the infringement profit can be reasonably calculated based on the evidence submitted by him, and the amount of compensation claimed by him can be supported, the people’s court should support it; if the accused infringer claims that the amount should not be supported, he should submit counter-evidence sufficient to overturn the aforementioned fact of infringement profit and prove his actual infringement profit.

In the first instance of this case, the patent owner has submitted “CSRC’s official website to prove the manufacturer’s overall profitability “coaching report”, 11 notarized certificates showing the sales and inventory of the alleged infringing products on online e-commerce platforms, notarized certificates showing the introduction and sale of the alleged infringing products on the manufacturer’s website, Taobao, JD.com and other e-commerce platforms after the lawsuit, the “Patent License Contract” of the patent involved, and relevant information on the manufacturer’s bidding and tendering operations, etc.”

The court believes that from the source, credibility, time span, quantity and other conditions of these evidences, it can be determined that the patent owner has actively fulfilled the burden of proof in patent cases.

During the trial of the first instance, the court required the infringing party to submit financial statements, sales ledgers, profit statements and other evidence materials related to the alleged infringing products to prove the scale of infringement, but the infringer did not submit them in the first and second instance.

Therefore, the court of first instance supported the patent owner’s request for 10 million yuan in compensation. The infringer appealed, and the Supreme Court rejected the infringer’s appeal in the second instance, believing that the infringer should bear the adverse consequences of not fulfilling the burden of proof in patent cases.

Original link:How Important is the Burden of Proof in Patent Case?

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