What Does Recent Tencent Litigation Against a Patent Troll Signify?

Peng Sheng

Introduction

A “patent troll” is a term used to identify a person or company that attempts to enforce patent rights against accused infringers far beyond the patent’s actual value of the prior art. Generally, patent trolls do not manufacture the patented product or process. Rather, they seek to profit through litigation against rich companies with similar patents, and then wait for a favorable settlement from the side of the opponent. It is a legal phenomenon that occurs throughout the world.[1]

In China, intellectual property (“IP”) owners have been facing lawsuits from patent trolls for many years.[2] In the past, giant companies in China tended to settle with patent trolls rather than pursuing a win-or-lose outcome.[3]Read the rest

Indoor Air Pollution in Rental Premises

Yuan Xia

I. Introduction

 

The problem of indoor air pollution caught the public’s attention because of increasing complaints about air condition in rental houses.[1] It started with a widely spread online accusation. A renter, an employee of Alibaba, accused Ziroom, which is one of the leading leasing companies in China, of providing a rental house that failed to meet the national standard of air quality, which allegedly killed the renter.[2]  Accordingly, “Ziroom Formaldehyde Incident” immediately became breaking news. In September 2018, 26 Ziroom renters filed a lawsuit against Ziroom in the Beijing East District Court. On November 29th, the court delivered a judgement holding that Ziroom should refund all rent, service fees and air quality testing fees.… Read the rest