SHANGHAI—Tata Motors Ltd.’s Jaguar Land Rover suffered a setback in its effort to win a lawsuit against a Chinese auto maker that it says infringed a design patent for its Range Rover Evoque crossover. China’s State Intellectual Property Office has revoked both Jaguar Land Rover’s patent for its Evoque as well as that for Jiangling Motors Co.’s Landwind X7 SUV, according to statements from the patent re-examination board posted...
Increasingly it is becoming tricky for a foreign brands to win a design patent lawsuit in China, as Chinese laws now imply they must register the design with the Chinese authority before they start to manufacture the product, regardless of whether the patent is already registered in the country of origin. The case against Apple was filed by an American company called ZTE Corporation and its subsidiary Huawei. The WSJ accuses China of turning to patents as ammunition as they try to reel in huge companies: “We are going to see a lot more Chinese companies filing patents outside China, and more deals and lawsuits involving patents and technologies,” says Allen & Overy's Benjamin Bai. It is particularly difficult for smartphones for example as it can involve thousands of patents.