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.

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Photo of Yingli Wang Yingli Wang

Dr. Yingli Wang is partner in the firm’s Intellectual Property practice, with a primary focus on biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and polymer/material industry. Yingli leads the patent group in the firm’s Shanghai office.

Photo of Mia Xia Mia Xia

Min (Mia) Xia is patent consultant in Perkins Coie’s Intellectual Property practice. She focuses on patent prosecution and counseling to help clients achieve their strategic goals. She previously worked as a patent examiner of CNIPA, where she examined patents in the fields of…

Min (Mia) Xia is patent consultant in Perkins Coie’s Intellectual Property practice. She focuses on patent prosecution and counseling to help clients achieve their strategic goals. She previously worked as a patent examiner of CNIPA, where she examined patents in the fields of control engineering, display technology, virtual reality systems, interactive multimedia systems, automatic teller machines and methods, and home appliances. In addition, Mia is also experienced in patent analysis and patent search.