Court hears US patent suit

By Cui Xiaohuo (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-11-14 08:26

A hearing of a lawsuit brought by US flash memory card maker SanDisk against a decision made by the national patent review board earlier this year, was held at Beijing's No 1 Intermediate People's Court on Thursday.

In January, the board ruled in favor of Shenzhen firm Netac in a dispute over patent rights in China to the flash memory technology.

Flash is a type of computer memory that is primarily used in cards and USB drives for the storage and transfer of data between computers and other digital products.

In 2006, California-based SanDisk acquired the patent for the flash memory technology after the takeover of Israeli firm M-Systems, which had developed it.

Lawyers appointed by SanDisk said that as the holder of the patent in the United States, the firm should have priority over Netac when applying the technology in China.

"The patent granted to Netac collides with the one owned by my client," Zhou Qiang, one of SanDisk's two lawyers, said.

The US firm said it is not attempting to sue Netac for patent infringement, but is requesting the court rescinds the patent.

The patent reexamination board of the State Intellectual Property Office defended the conduct of the patent board during its review of the case.

Deng Guoshun, founder and president of Netac who attended the hearing, told China Daily that he regarded the patent as the property of his company.

During the four-hour hearing, the two sides debated patent qualifications and law procedures.

The hearing ended without a decision, but the court said a further hearing would be held. No date was given.

Liu Yinliang, a professor of intellectual property rights at China University of Political Science and Law, said the case was the latest of many to deal with patent disputes between business rivals from China and abroad.

"It is important to understand that China's Patent Law is in line with the rules of the World Trade Organization," he said.

"This case is a technological and a business issue. It has nothing to do with protectionism in trade."

Last November, the Beijing Municipal Higher People's Court upheld a lawsuit filed by US drug maker Pfizer, the creator of the anti-impotence drug Viagra, forbidding Chinese firms from using the Viagra name.