Domestic furniture hardware company patent rights protection success case analysis

Review of Cases In 2008, UnitedStars filed a patent with Foshan Shida District, Longjiang Town Shida Hardware & Electrical Products Factory and Shida Hardware Operation Department of Longjiang Town, Shunde District, Foshan City, as the defendants, and filed a patent with Foshan Intermediate People’s Court. Infringement litigation, the amount of compensation in the case involved was RMB 2.5 million.

United Star Hardware Co., Ltd. is a company specializing in the production of furniture hardware accessories. The company has achieved more than 40 patents including appearance patents and utility model patents through continuous innovation and research and development over the past 20 years. In recent years, with the rise of the brand name "United Star", several patented products of United Star have been maliciously counterfeited by some of their peers. The United Star Market Investigator, in the largest furniture materials city in Shunde District, discovered that several hardware factories are selling counterfeit products that look very similar to the joint star patent product. Among them, the joint sofa's functional sofa structure patent was maliciously counterfeited by Foshan Shida Hardware Factory, which caused a bad influence on the sales and brand image of United Star. In order to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises, United Stars has sued several infringing companies, including Foshan Shida Hardware Factory, after the multi-party team has collected evidence, claiming a total amount of up to 2.5 million yuan. After the filing of the two infringement cases, aroused heated discussions in the furniture industry. Many professional media, including the China Intellectual Property News, tracked the cases.

Recently, Foshan Intermediate People's Court pronounced a verdict on the joint infringement case against Foshan Shida Hardware Factory. It was ruled that Foshan Shida Hardware Factory immediately ceased the manufacture and sale of a functional sofa structure that infringed the patent of Union Star; and destroyed inventory infringing products. , semi-finished products and special molds; judgement Shida Hardware Factory to compensate economic losses of 150,000 yuan, and bear the relevant litigation costs. Another defendant’s infringing company was also under pressure to withdraw its registration in the business sector. The United Stars defended their counterfeit operations and won an early battle.

Under the “China-created” environment, many companies are exploring how to effectively protect their independent intellectual property rights, because only if their intellectual property rights are effectively protected will more companies be willing to innovate. To create. Since 2005, United Star has been actively exploring ways to safeguard intellectual property rights of enterprises, and has found a way to protect human rights in the establishment of intellectual property protection and legal rights protection teams.

1, Patent Protection, Confidence Guarantee In 1990, the United Star applied for the first product patent, which was an advanced concept in the furniture industry at that time. After 20 years of development, today's furniture industry has stepped into the “creation” era of brand innovation. Whoever has product patents is equivalent to mastering the initiative in the market competition, and the joint efforts of 20 years of unremitting efforts have been Obtained more than 40 product patents including utility models and designs. The continuous innovation of products and the application for patent protection at the same time are the confidence guarantee of the joint development of Star Alliance.

2. The professional team and the joint leader of rights protection have a professional rights protection team led by five lawyers. Since 2005, it has started to carry out rights protection activities at furniture products exhibitions, and exchanged with the Office of Patent Rights Protection of the exhibition to deal with infringing companies exhibiting counterfeit joint star products without authorization at the exhibition, and ordered them not to display infringing products at the exhibition. .

In 2008, after a multi-party forensic team for professional rights protection team, Joint Star sued two infringing companies, including Foshan Shida Hardware Factory, and the claim amount was as high as 2.5 million yuan, which became the pioneer of rights protection for the furniture accessories industry.

3. Instigating and instigating, initiating industry's attention Since 2006, United Star has taken corporate innovation and intellectual property protection as an important part of corporate culture at each large-scale exhibition, advocating for customers, hoping to adopt a series of Publicity activities, in the status quo of counterfeit industry, give warnings to peers and industry, and through their own efforts to promote orderly competition and healthy development of the industry. The United Star firmly believes that as long as the company can promote innovation and intellectual property protection to an important position in the development of the enterprise, “Made in China” must be able to complete a gorgeous turn to “Created in China”.

"Moral Respect" The ideal way to safeguard intellectual property With the gradual standardization of market mechanisms and the constant improvement of our country's legal system, more and more furniture companies are paying increasing attention to the protection of intellectual property rights. However, while many furniture companies protect their own innovative achievements, they buy and use infringing furniture accessories and even use infringing counterfeit furniture accessories to lower prices to suppliers, causing vicious competition in the accessories industry and ultimately destroying the entire furniture industry. The healthy development of the chain. When the development and protection of intellectual property has become the main theme of corporate development, why is the infringement still repeated?

In developed countries and regions such as Europe and the United States, patent infringement companies will not only be subject to legal sanctions, but will also be subject to many restrictions during the exhibition. Even visits to large-scale exhibitions will be rejected. In these countries and regions, respecting the intellectual property rights of others has become a social moral style. Perhaps because of this, Chinese companies that are accustomed to infringements are going to the United States and other places to participate in exhibitions, they will become very careful, lest they be subject to infringement complaints. It can thus be seen that raising intellectual property protection to a new height of moral respect is the ideal way to safeguard intellectual property rights. Infringement counterfeiting cannot be seen in the end.

As a vanguard of the industry's rights protection, the joint star has been advocating intellectual property promotion activities for many years and has launched a series of actions to defend against human rights. These actions are not intended to attack infringers as opponents, because those infringing enterprises that lack independent research and development capabilities will soon be eliminated by the market tide. Joint Stars will safeguard their rights through judicial procedures. The purpose is not to take a long time and a large amount of time. The energy to get a small amount of compensation is only to make the industry aware that through a series of rights protection measures, the maintenance of intellectual property through legal means is really a last resort; it is a primary means; only will be maintained The promotion of intellectual property rights as "moral respect" is the ideal way to eliminate infringement and the noble realm.

In any era, laws are only the bottom line to solve social conflicts. As early as 2000 years ago, Confucius proposed that "people's trust" was the highest rule of the country. In China 15 years ago, urban health also relied on the supervision of the health enforcement team. At that time, the urban health law enforcement team and civilized health propaganda slogans were the scenes of Chinese cities. Today, more than 10 years later, it has been difficult to see the health law enforcement teams in the big cities of China, but urban health has greatly improved. Gai’s national quality and citizens’ awareness of environmental sanitation has improved. Similarly, the protection of intellectual property rights is not enough to rely on legal sanctions. It is necessary to form a good morality and respect as a basic guarantee. Therefore, in order to form an atmosphere of respect for intellectual property in Chinese companies, enterprises, industry associations, and related industry exhibitions should raise intellectual property protection to a new level of “moral respect,” and form a respectful knowledge within the industry. The moral self-discipline of property rights.

After the hurricane sweeping over, the Chinese have awakened from the dream of the "world factory." About 500 companies in Guangdong Province collapsed under the financial turmoil, which made the Chinese deeply aware of the importance of independent innovation. In 2008, the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government's Decision on Accelerating the Construction of a Modern Industrial System clearly stated that brand-driven furniture industry, and the furniture industry as a key industry for high-tech transformation and upgrading, proposed that China’s furniture industry should achieve “from exporting countries. Change to a Powerful Exporter." As one of the most important furniture exhibitions in the world, CIFF has added unprecedented themes such as "Red Pencil" and "Finland's Kubaboro Teacher and Student Exhibition" and proposed that design is the concept of future technological innovation center. In order to encourage corporate innovation, CIFF also provides the best exhibition location for companies with innovative results. For infringing companies, CIFF may refuse to exhibit. All this shows that the government, industry associations, and industry exhibitions have paid more and more attention to intellectual property rights. Respecting intellectual property rights will surely become a moral code for everyone's self-discipline.

Respecting Intellectual Property Rights? Corporate Social Responsibilities in China After more than 20 years of rapid development, many furniture companies have developed to a considerable scale. When enterprises develop to a certain scale, it is an irresistible social responsibility for enterprises to guide and promote the industry to develop in a healthy direction. Joint Star understands this principle, so from 05 onwards, it has used the large-scale furniture exhibition as a platform to promote intellectual property awareness to the industry. The joint star's approach is like the civilized health propaganda placard posted in the big cities of China. At that time, it seemed to have little effect, but it had profound and far-reaching significance. However, if we want to create an ethics code that respects intellectual property in the industry, the efforts of individual companies alone are not enough. Therefore, the United Star urges the media, industry associations and industry exhibitions to adopt appropriate measures and measures to promote the furniture industry's respect for the formation of intellectual property ethics self-discipline and create a fair and just innovation environment within the industry.

As the forerunner of the furniture hardware industry, for innovation, the star of the alliance has shown a firm position:

First, insisting on innovation and continuous development is the eternal concept of the United Star.

Second, resolutely defending rights and curbing the spread of infringements. This is not only the joint star's maintenance of the company’s own rights and interests, but also the maintenance of a healthy competitive environment for the entire industry. It is also the social responsibility of the joint star for the sustainable development of the entire industry.