A man in Suizhou, Hubei province, sued the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) for 5.4 billion yuan ($813 million) in compensation after it neglected to respond to an application he filed for a patent 15 years ago and then told him it was out of date.

Gong Baogui submitted his application for a patent on peanut milk production in 1995. He heard nothing afterwards and when he finally pursued the matter, the SIPO formally dismissed the case in February 2009 because the application was out of date.

He took the SIPO to court in 2010, demanding 1 billion yuan in compensation. The judges ruled in favor of the SIPO. He then decided to appeal against the decision, raising the amount of compensation to 5.4 billion yuan.

An appeal trial opened on Jan 6. The SIPO argued that a dismissal notice was issued on Sept 29, 2009 after Gong failed to respond to an earlier letter, dated June 8, 2009, regarding the application processing fee. The file on Gong's application was subsequently destroyed after he did not reapply for a patent within two years of the initial dismissal notice.

In reply, Gong said the notices were mailed to an address in Shanghai, while he resides in Hubei province. He claims the SIPO should be held accountable for mishandling his case.

(Source: Xinhua)