Unfair competition of Sijia Trading Company Limited for issuing warning letters in connection with alleged patent infringement
Chinese Taipei
Case:
Unfair competition of Sijia Trading Company Limited for issuing warning letters in connection with alleged patent infringement
Key Words:
atent rights, warning letter, obviously unfair
Reference:
Fair Trade Commission Decision of December 16, 1998 (371st Commissioner Meeting); Disposition (87) Kung Ch'u Tzu No. 251
Industry:
Business Machine Manufacturing (2960)
Relevant Laws:
Summary:
The Sijia Trading Company Limited (the respondent) sent a letter to the complainant's distributor alleging civil and criminal liability for patent infringement. The letter cited the patent, New Utility Model 102585, relating to an improvement to an electronic device. The letter stated that the respondent already had substantial evidence of the infringement, the infringement was impacting on the respondent's sales of the products, and there was a high risk the recipient would be found guilty of patent infringement.
The complainant's business was seriously impacted by the accusations and it therefore filed a complaint with the Fair Trade Commission (this Commission).
According to this Commission's investigation, prior to Sijia's issuance of the letter alleging patent infringement, no assessment was made as to the existence of infringing activity. Nor was a judgment ruling on infringement obtained from the courts. Although the letter in question stated the name of the patent, the patent number, and attached a copy of the patent certificate, there was no explanation of the scope or content of the patent, or of the facts surrounding the alleged infringement. The recipient of the letter was unable to make a reasonable decision as to whether or not there was infringement of the patent.
From the content of the warning letter it appears that a recipient might simply have stopped selling the products just to avoid the possibility of getting involved in a lawsuit - regardless of whether the content of the warning letter had any factual or legal basis. The letter resulted in the improper obstruction of the complainant's sales channel.
In addition to sending the warning letter, Sijia also warned the recipient by telephone. Sijia engaged in obviously unfair acts of disrupting the legitimate sales channels of a competitor.
This activity of sending the warning letter does not belong to the legitimate exercise of patent rights and constitutes reprehensible business conduct which should be censured in accordance with Articles 24 and 41 of the Fair Trade Law, as decided in the 371st Commission Decision.
Summarized by Lu Li-na
Supervised by Yu Su-su
Appendix:
Sijia Trading Co. Ltd.'s Uniform Invoice No.: 22643695