Concerned about the infringement of 38 enterprises and individuals, this Chinese enterprise took the initiative to sue overseas enterprises in the United States

SIMORE international recently filed a 337 investigation application with the U.S. International Trade Commission, accusing 38 enterprises and individuals in the United States, Canada and other places of infringing their patents and trademark rights, and requesting the U.S. International Trade Commission to issue exclusion orders and prohibition orders.

Public information shows that the 337 investigation is an investigation conducted by the U.S. International Trade Commission in accordance with Section 337 of the tariff act of 1930 and relevant amendments. It mainly focuses on intellectual property infringement in the process of exporting to the United States, importing or selling in the United States, as well as other unfair competition acts. It belongs to the scope of overseas patent infringement litigation, The trial time is usually within 12 to 18 months.

"In recent years, nearly half of the 337 investigation is aimed at China, and even Chinese enterprises have sued Chinese enterprises in the United States. This application of smore international is the first time that Chinese enterprises independently Sue overseas enterprises through the 337 investigation procedure. If better results are obtained, it is of great significance for Chinese enterprises to export to the United States." Zhang Jiayu, a lawyer of Shanghai Jiehua law firm, told reporters that although China often ended up with adverse results in responding to lawsuits, it is possible to win by taking the initiative to protect rights. In 2016, Nanbo, an electric balance car manufacturer in Tianjin, China, jointly filed 337 investigation applications with Segway and Deka, the former parent company of Segway, to the U.S. International Trade Commission, accusing 13 enterprises of infringing their patent rights. This case has achieved good results. Therefore, it has certain advantages for smore international to initiate the investigation application on its own initiative.

It is understood that the controlled party is suspected of infringing three patents and one trademark of smore ceramic atomization core technology. From a series of previous cases, once the investigated enterprise loses the lawsuit, it will either compensate for the high patent fee or take all the products off the shelf. Once the investigation finds that the infringement is established, the U.S. International Trade Commission will prohibit the infringing enterprises from selling infringing products in the United States. At the same time, it will also issue an exclusion order to the customs to prohibit the import of the products into the United States.

Analysts pointed out that the U.S. market is the largest market for electronic atomization products in the world, and it is also a high incidence area of patent infringement disputes of electronic products. As the world's largest supplier of electronic atomization equipment, 80% of the company's products are exported overseas, including the United States, Japan, Europe and other developed countries and regions. With the rise of the domestic market, affected by the epidemic environment and the tightening of overseas e-cigarette export policies, the revenue share of smore in the domestic market has exceeded that in the U.S. market.

According to the data, in the first half of 2020, the revenue of SIMORE in the U.S. market was $649 million, accounting for 16.7% of the global market revenue, while the revenue in the same period of 2021 was $826 million, accounting for only 11.9% of the global market revenue. In addition, Hong Kong, China is mainly used as a transshipment place. 96.7% and 94.0% of the products were finally sent to the United States in the first half of 2020 and the same period in 2021, respectively. Until 2020, the United States has been the largest terminal market of Smallville. In the first half of 2021, the combined sales of the United States and Hong Kong accounted for 37.4%. The Chinese mainland has sold 40.8% of its sales abroad, which has surpassed the US.

The legal person in charge of SIMORE International said that all along, SIMORE international has the ability and determination to defend its own rights and interests while conducting business in accordance with global laws and regulations, and has established a professional legal support system for global intellectual property protection. As early as 2019, for the intellectual property infringement of overseas e-commerce platforms, smore international filed and won two intellectual property infringement lawsuits in the Federal District Court of the United States, and the defendant was awarded a total compensation of more than US $9 million.

From actively responding to 337 investigation, realizing the importance of intellectual property rights and actively filing charges, Chinese enterprises have made constant exploration on the way to protect overseas markets and legitimate rights and interests, and made certain achievements.

"In the face of fierce market competition, Chinese manufacturers should carry out patent layout in the global market in advance to avoid patent disputes caused by the regional nature of patent protection. At the same time, we need to deeply realize that respecting intellectual property rights is the necessary way out for sustainable development, and adhering to innovation and R & D of their own patented technology is the last word," Zhang Jiayu said.

Source: China trade news reporter Qian Yan

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