The organizer should deal with all the plants that are organized
Liability for infringement of new varieties
——(2021) Supreme Court Zhi Min Zhong No. 2166
[Summary of the trial]
The accused infringer who played an organizing and leading role in the process of producing and propagating the allegedly infringing propagation materials by multiple people shall be liable for the alleged infringing acts directly carried out by all the organizers.
【Keywords】
Civil infringement of the right to a new plant variety Organizational leadership Tort liability
[Basic facts of the case]
Hebei Mouye Co., Ltd. claimed that it was the owner of the variety right holder of the new corn plant variety with the variety right number CNA20120515.0 and the name "Wannuo 2000", and that An Moucheng organized eight people, including An Moucheng, to illegally produce and breed "Wannuo 2000" corn seeds on their leased land without authorization in 2019, which constituted an act of producing the propagating materials of the variety involved in the case and infringed the right to the new plant variety of the variety involved. Therefore, he filed a lawsuit with the people's court, requesting that An Moucheng be ordered to immediately stop the infringement and compensate for economic losses of 500,000 yuan.
An Moucheng argued that the samples identified by Hebei Moucheng Industry Co., Ltd. were not taken from the land planted by An Moucheng, and An Moucheng did not know that he was planting the allegedly infringing varieties.
After trial, the court ascertained that Hebei Certain Industry Co., Ltd. was the owner of the variety rights of the varieties involved in the case. An Moucheng and other eight people leased a total of more than 140 acres of land contracted by four farmers including Ma Moushan, of which An Moucheng personally leased 18.7 acres of land. An Moucheng decided on the varieties to be planted, contacted and provided parents, and paid land transfer fees to farmers. According to the sampling and testing of a county seed industry service center, the corn seeds planted on the plot involved in the case were very similar or the same variety as the standard samples of the varieties involved.
On November 18, 2020, the court of first instance rendered a civil judgment: 1. An Moucheng immediately stopped the production and sale of the new corn plant variety "Wannuo 2000"; 2. An Moucheng compensated Hebei Certain Industry Co., Ltd. for economic losses of 85,628 yuan within 10 days of the effective date of the judgment; 3. The other litigation claims of Hebei Certain Industry Co., Ltd. are rejected. After the judgment was pronounced, Hebei Moumou Industry Co., Ltd. appealed on the grounds that An Moucheng should be liable for the infringement of all plots; An Moucheng appealed on the grounds that the first-instance judgment was wrong in admitting evidence and that the basis for calculating damages was wrong. On September 18, 2023, the Supreme People's Court rendered the (2021) Zui Gao Fa Zhi Min Zhong No. 2166 Civil Judgment: 1. Item 1 of the Civil Judgment of the Court of First Instance is upheld; 2. Revoke item 3 of the civil judgment of the court of first instance; 3. Item 2 of the civil judgment of the court of first instance is modified as follows: An Moucheng shall compensate Hebei Certain Industry Co., Ltd. for economic losses of 500,000 yuan within 10 days of the effective date of this judgment; 4. An Moucheng's request for appeal is rejected.
【Judgment Opinion】
The effective judgment of the court held that playing an organizing and leading role in the alleged infringement of multiple people producing and propagating the allegedly infringing seeds should be held liable for all the alleged infringing acts directly carried out by the organizers. Because An Moucheng played an organizing and leading role in the act of seed production on the land contracted by the eight people, all the losses caused by the alleged infringement of the eight people did not exceed the scope of An Moucheng's subjective intention, so An Moucheng should not only be liable for the alleged infringement of the land contracted by himself, but also bear responsibility for the alleged infringement of the land contracted by the other seven people. On the basis of determining the planting area, since An Moucheng, as the alleged infringer, did not provide evidence on the output or profits, and in the case of determining the amount of compensation according to the actual losses, the output claimed by Hebei Moucheng Co., Ltd. did not significantly exceed the usual situation of corn seed production in An Moucheng's planting area, and the profits it claimed were supported by evidence and could be accepted. According to the above data, the actual loss suffered by Hebei Mouye Co., Ltd. due to the alleged infringement involved in the case has exceeded 500,000 yuan, so its request for economic losses of 500,000 yuan is fully supported.
【Correlation Index】
Article 72, paragraph 3 of the Seed Law of the People's Republic of China (Article 73, paragraph 3 of the Seed Law of the People's Republic of China, which came into force on January 1, 2016, applies in this case)
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Source: Intellectual Property Tribunal of the Supreme People's Court
Editors of this issue: Zhai Yiting and Wei Rong
Review of this issue: Wang Meihong
Producer of this issue: Wu Junsheng
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