On March 18, 2006, Hebei-based Shuanghuan Auto announced that China's State Intellectual Property Office has made a decision on March 7, 2006, declaring Honda's patent for design invalid, which means that Honda's outer design of CR-V would not be protected by China's IP laws.
In September 2003, before Shuanghuan's S-RV came into the market, Honda Motor (China) Investment Co. Ltd. claimed there was a great similarity in outer design between S-RV and Honda's CR-V. Honda contacted Shuanghuan and requested they cease the manufacture of the S-RV. In response, Shuanghuan said that they made a claim of "non-infringement declaration" to Shijiazhuang Intermediate People's Court on October 16, 2003, to protect their rights.
On December 13, 2004, Shijiazhuang Intermediate People's Court announced that, according to the response from the Supreme People's Court, the two cases, in which Honda sued Shuanghuan for IPR infringement and Shuanghuan sued Honda for a declaration of non-infringement, would be heard separately in Shijiazhuang and Beijing. In the meantime, Shuanghuan applied to State Intellectual Property Office for invalidation of Honda's patent for design of CR-V.
After two years examination on March 7, the Patent Reexamination Board held that Honda's patent for design of CR-V is similar to its design that has been publicly disclosed, which is not in accord with Article 23 of the Patent Law of P. R. China. Thus the Patent Reexamination Board declared invalidation of Honda's patent right for design (No. 20013195239).
On March 20, Zhu Linjie, spokesman for Honda China, said that Honda would institute administrative proceedings within three months. According to Zhu, Honda would first request to cancel this decision by the Patent Reexamination Board, and then request to uphold the patent right for the new design of CR-V.
In response, Shuanghuan said that they had anticipated Honda's reaction and might appear as a third party in the proceedings.
CHINESE
