On March 20, 2024, the guest lecture on "Patent Litigation in the Global Economy," part of the Expert Forum Series organized by the School of Juris Master, was held in Room 0112 of the Main Teaching Building at the Xueyuan Road Campus. The keynote speaker was Dr. Filip De Corte, Chief Intellectual Property Counsel for Crop Protection in the Syngenta. Panel discussant Wei Shao, Senior Partner at NTD Intellectual Property Attorneys, and moderator Dr. Xian Zhang, lecturer in IP law of the School of Juris Master, also participated. Students from the Foreign-Related Lawyer Program and International Arbitration Program, as well as graduate students interested in intellectual property, attended the lecture.
At the beginning of the lecture, Dr. Xian Zhang introduced Dr. Filip De Corte and Mr. Wei Shao, with a warm welcome.
In the lecture, Dr. Filip De Corte provided a comprehensive overview of patent protection and international patent infringement litigation concerning crop protection products. He discussed the technical background, market development, necessity and uniqueness of patent protection for crop protection products, and the challenges faced in cross-border litigation.
Dr. Filip De Corte introduced the topic of patent protection for crop protection products by highlighting their positive impact on corp output. He explained the trends in a number of active ingredients in corp products over the past 70 years and their future directions. By discussing the success rate of research and development (R&D), the long timeframe for marketization, and the time and financial resources needed for R&D, he illustrated the unique aspects and challenges of patent protection in specific technical fields. He also elaborated patent portfolio protection strategies for crop protection products, often referred to as "patent evergreen." Protecting compounds typically involves multiple types of patents, including those for formulations, compound filteration, manufacturing methods, and product applications. As a corporate strategy, patent portfolio protection not only showcases innovation and R&D capabilities but also plays a positive role in extending the duration of patent protection.
In the context of economic globalization, international patent applications and cross-border infringement litigation pose significant challenges to corporate patent protection. Dr. Filip De Corte addressed these challenges from both theoretical and practical perspectives. He stressed the conflicts between patent rights protection and trade secret protection for manufacturing methods, analyzing the issue from the perspectives of legal protection, economic decisions, and technical applications. Regarding global patent infringement litigation, Dr. Filip De Corte used Syngenta's azoxystrobin case as an example, illustrating the litigation process in various countries, including the United States and Belgium. Azoxystrobin is a fungicidal compound for which Syngenta invested significant resources in R&D and commercialization. Consequently, the company was highly cautious and invested massively in protecting its patent rights. Dr. Filip De Corte explained the differing views of the U.S. District Court and Circuit Court regarding the "single entity standard" during the litigation process. He also used the patent infringement litigation in Belgium as an example to demonstrate the challenges Syngenta faced in defending its rights in Europe.
Dr. Filip De Corte emphasized that cross-border patent litigation involves navigating differences in patent laws and judicial standards across countries, as well as managing the economic and time costs of judicial enforcement in different jurisdictions. These difficulties and challenges are unavoidable for companies operating in international markets. In conclusion, Dr. Filip De Corte introduced the development and the status quo of member states of the European Unified Patent Court Agreement, highlighting its efforts to coordinate and address the aforementioned issues.
During the Q&A session, Dr. Filip De Corte, Mr. Wei Shao, and Dr. Xian Zhang engaged with students on academic debate such as balancing the interests of patent protection and preventing abuse of rights. The guest speakers answered questions in detail, and the students greatly benefited from the discussion.
Dr. Xian Zhang, on behalf of the School of Juris Master, expressed heartfelt gratitude to the guest speakers for sharing their knowledge. Finally, a group photo was taken to commemorate the event, marking the successful conclusion of the lecture.
