Patent on Green Light Timer Cancelled.　Police Freed from Burden of Infringement Lawsuit.

The Keeling City Police Department (KCPD) was sued last year for infringing the patent on the green light timer it installed at various intersections in the city. After the court ruled in favor of the KCPD on that case, a timer maker filed an invalidation action seeking to invalidate the patent alleged in the infringement suit against KCPD. According to the invalidation petition, the patent the invalidation of which is being sought for had been publicly used in Yilin County and other places before the patentee filed the application for the patent. That is, the patent shouldn’t have been granted in the first place due to absence of the novelty requirement. The Intellectual Property Office canceled the patent accordingly.

The KCPD initially installed the timer at a number of intersections in the city on a trial basis. As the trial showed good result, KCPD had a total of 142 timers installed at 36 intersections round the city. The patentee then filed a lawsuit against the KCPD alleging that the KCPD had infringed the patent he obtained on the timer in 1998. The patentee claiming a total of NTD1 million in damages from the KCPD also sued the police departments of other counties and cities. (2005.9)

CYJ/EMA