Northeast Ecological Agriculture Development Co., Ltd. (Northeast), v. Jikang Green Valley Planting Professional Cooperative (Jikang), No. 724 [2019], Final, Civil Division, the Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China.

On September 27, 2020, the Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China (the Supreme Court) issued a decision affirming that a bidding document containing a confidentiality clause is not prior art for a prior art defense. The bidding document was made available to the public after the filing date of the patent at issue, Chinese Patent No. ZL 201410622980.9 (the ’980 patent), owned by Northeast. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court found that appellant Jikang failed to establish that the bidding document was available to the public before the application was filed. The ’980 patent claims a sunlight greenhouse with heat-storage and heat-insulation walls and building method of same. The bidding document discloses a sunlight greenhouse and was available to potential bidders with certain qualifications before the filing date of the ’980 patent. However, Jikang failed to establish that the bidding document was available to the public before the filing date.