Drawing the Line on Abuse of Invalidation Procedures: Protecting Innovation with the Principle of Good Faith

WISECODE Take

Many business owners mistake patent invalidation as a mere legal tactic or bargaining chip, but this case warns against "malicious litigation." From a business strategy perspective of "transaction costs," a Chongqing company filed an invalidation against patent ZL201410409378.7 in July 2025, but later publicly admitted it was merely to obtain contact info for lowering licensing fees. This "harassment strategy" was rejected by the CNIPA for violating the good faith principle. This shows that using "litigation to force negotiation" not only fails to reduce costs but also risks legal backlash due to bad faith. We recommend: first, negotiate licensing through formal channels instead of opportunistic filing; second, establish monitoring systems to collect evidence of bad faith when facing abnormal invalidation requests. Patents should be shields, not weapons for harassment. Zhidian offers "Patent Portfolio Health Checks" to maximize protection; please consult professionals for specific cases.