Electric company battle

Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court has made the decision of Property Preservation and Evidence Preservation in a patent infringement case between two electric companies. As a result, defendant Leviton Electric (Dongguan) Co Ltd has been prohibited from selling 50,000 products.

In June, General Protecht Group Inc, a manufacturer of Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters (GFCI), filed a lawsuit against Dongguan Leviton, a subsidiary of the US electric company Leviton. They said the defendant infringed on the design patent of its products.

The lawsuit came after Leviton's lawsuit in the US.

In April 2004, Leviton, a major US manufacturer of GFCI, filed several patent infringement lawsuits against General Protecht's clients in the US, claiming its GFCI products violated its patent rights.

The Zhejiang-based company has always paid great attention to its patents, says the company president Chen Wusheng, adding that now it has obtained three patents in the US and 22 patents in China.

Used in US households, GFCI is an electrical device that prevents people from severe or fatal electric shocks. Unlike the other four major US manufacturers' conventional mechanical and electrical technologies, General Protecht developed the technology by itself and has achieved success in the overseas market, says Chen.

Chen says Leviton intends to wear General Protecht down with high litigation costs. Although the lawsuit has affected its business, he will lead the company to fight Leviton to the end, he says.

In early June, his company received an order from a US court that accepted the claims of General Protecht that its products were beyond the scope of Leviton's patent.

Cross-border infringement

The Jiangxi Public Security Department has solved a case of cross-province copyright infringement, which consists of printing, transportation and sale.

Eight suspects were caught by the police, five of them were arrested, one was detained and two are awaiting trial.

This is the largest copyright infringement investigation by the Jiangxi police in recent years.

The gang bought the pirated books from illegal booksellers in Beijing, transported the books to Jiangxi by illegal booksellers in Nanchang, and sold the books in all cities and counties across Jiangxi Province.

Since the beginning of 2004 to May 2005, this gang sold about 3.2 million books, with turnover of more than 2.68 million yuan (US$3.3 million). About 88 illegal booksellers in Beijing were involved in the case, and the interests of nearly 200 publishing houses were infringed.

The case is still in process.

(China Daily 08/21/2006 page9)