*AI-generated translation, for reference only.

[Basic Facts]

Vanadium ore is a strategic non-ferrous metal resource in China. Global steel smelting enterprises have a huge demand for vanadium-nitrogen alloy. Pan [REDACTED] company, a state-owned enterprise, is the patentee of the invention patent titled "Method for Producing Vanadium Nitride". Pan [REDACTED] company filed a lawsuit against six private enterprises, including Zhong [REDACTED] company, claiming that they infringed the patent rights and requested that each defendant cease the infringement and compensate for economic losses and reasonable expenses for rights protection ranging from 30 million to 90 million yuan, with a total claim amount of 400 million yuan. The Intermediate People's Court of Chengdu, Sichuan, ruled in the first instance that Zhong [REDACTED] company and four other enterprises should compensate Pan [REDACTED] Company 5.1 million yuan in economic losses and 100,000 yuan in reasonable expenses, totaling 20.3 million yuan; at the same time, it ruled that the other two enterprises did not infringe. Both Pan [REDACTED] company and the four enterprises, including Zhong [REDACTED] company, were dissatisfied with the first-instance judgment and filed appeals respectively. During the second instance, the collegial panel of the Intellectual Property Court of the Supreme People's Court, considering that the case involved China's strategic rare metal resources, had a high total claim amount, and was related to the protection of innovation achievements of state-owned enterprises as well as the development of private science and technology enterprises, comprehensively sorted out the series of disputes, and actively built a dialogue platform to ease conflicts and promote mutual understanding and concession through inspection, circuit court sessions, and local mediation. After repeated communication, a comprehensive settlement was finally reached on the basis of equality and mutual benefit, with the patentee granting licenses to enterprises in need. After all parties reached a comprehensive settlement, the Supreme People's Court ruled to allow Pan [REDACTED] company to withdraw the lawsuit.

[Significance]

The collegial panel of this case flexibly established a dialogue platform through on-site inspections, mobile court sessions, and on-site mediations. Eventually, it facilitated the patent owner to grant a license to the defendant enterprise, thus preventing the major domestic vanadium metallurgical enterprises from being embroiled in patent disputes for a long time, which could have affected the production and export of vanadium-nitrogen alloys in China. This outcome achieved equal protection and mutual benefit for both state-owned and private enterprises, avoided "excessive internal competition" within the industry, and safeguarded the healthy development of the industry and the security of national mineral resources.