Recently, the third party POSCO, represented by Mr. Di ZENG, senior partner of Zhilin Law and Ms. Qin LI, lawyer of Zhilin Law, wins the first instance of patent invalidation administrative litigation in Nippon Steel & Sumikin Engineering (NSSE) vs Patent Review Board. The court of first instance dismissed the claims of the plaintiff.

This case relates to hot-stamping aluminum-coated steel plates for automobiles, which are widely used in various types of vehicles after hot-stamping treatment of the steel products. This case is paid closely attention by domestic and overseas major steel mills, the outcome of this case will have a profound impact on the major steel mills.

POSCO was set up by the Korean government in 1968, and has been ranked first for seven consecutive years since 2010 in "the most competitive Steel Enterprise in the World" selected by the world-renowned steel industry professional analysis organization WDS (World Steel Dynamics).

POSCO, represented by Zhilin Lawyers, filed a request for annulment of an important patent of NSSE on April 14, 2016, and the Patent Reexamination Board made a decision on December 6, 2016 to invalidate the patent in its entirety. NSSE dissatisfied with the above decision and filed an administrative lawsuit on July 25, 2017.

Upon receipt of the Statement of Claim of NSSE, Zhilin lawyers immediately formed a team and conducted an in-depth analysis of the claims and evidences submitted by NSSE. After several times of discussions, the litigation strategy was determined. Zhilin lawyers refuted every point of view put forward by the plaintiff from the mechanism of solving the technical problems recorded in the patent specification and the explanation of claim of rights. Finally Zhilin Lawyers convinced the judge and won the case for our client!

Zhilin Intellectual Property Department, focusing on infringement litigation, administrative litigation and non-litigation legal services on patent, trademark, trade secret, unfair competition, acting on behalf of a large number of listed companies, high-tech enterprises on intellectual property cases to win a favorable outcome of the proceedings. Zhilin Law will continue to provide high-efficiency and high-quality intellectual property services to customers from China and overseas and to protect the development of the enterprises.