Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP’s (Orrick) China intellectual property team has assisted the largest touch display technology and system manufacturer in the world, TPK Touch Solutions, in defending one of the company’s key Chinese patents in a patent invalidation petition before the China Patent Reexamination Board (PRB), according to a statement from the firm.
The petition was filed by an individual petitioner who likely represented an undisclosed key competitor, the firm said. This was the third attempt by the petitioners to invalidate core TPK patents. TPK has been vigorously enforcing against all infringers in China using its core patents, helping TPK maintain a leading position in the world market. Orrick successfully defended TPK at two earlier PRB hearings (July 21, 2010, and November 30, 2011) and the PRB issued its decisions maintaining the validity of the TPK core
patent at both invalidation petitions.
On December 13, 2011, the petitioner filed this most recent invalidation request against the TPK core patent before the PRB. On March 9, 2012, Orrick helped TPK to successfully defend the patent that is crucial to the company’s worldwide success, as TPK makes its touch panels only in China but it supplies them to most major brands in the world. On May 8, 2012, the PRB handed down its decision, once again maintaining the TPK patent valid by its entirety.
Orrick’s IP team, led by Beijingbased partner Xiang Wang, included associates Shelley Zhang, Yali Hu and Carol Yan. The same team also helped TPK to successfully prosecute and argue the corresponding key patent family application before the Korean Patent Office and obtained the grant of the Korean patent on June 25, 2010.
“We are delighted with the PRB’s ruling,” said Wang. “The patent represents a core technology at the heart of one of TPK’s core products. It is likely that, despite these three defeats, competitors will continue attacking this core patent in order to enter and try to carve out market share in China, the key manufacturing center for touch panels. We are proud that these multiple PRB rulings that have continuously maintained the validity of TPK’s core patent allow our clientto continue focusing on its China operations and expanding its business globally.”
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