Pharmaceutical patent litigation is one of the most complicated and complex practice areas in the field of patent law. LexField litigation team has rich, one-of-a-kind experience in this field and maybe the litigation team which has handled the largest numbers of pharmaceutical patent litigation cases in China.

Landmark cases in the field of pharmaceutical handled by LexField include:

• In the case of Aventis Pharma S.A. v. Jiangsu Heng Rui Medicine Co., Ltd., involving an alleged infringement on a medical method patent on "Docetaxel," our team represented Heng Rui, reversed an initial unfavorable judgment in the appeal and subsequently won in the retrial sought by Aventis before the Supreme People's Court.

• In a case where a foreign company sued a Beijing pharmaceutical company over an alleged infringement on a medical method patent, our team represented the defendant and won. This groundbreaking case sets a precedent for "Bolar exception" in China.

• LexField represented Jiangsu Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group in the retrial of Jiangsu Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group v. Eli Lilly and Company before the Supreme People's Court, contributing to bring the tow parties into a settlement. The case involved an alleged infringement on a medical method patent on a medication — Olanzapine.

• In a case involving an alleged infringement on a medical method patent on a chemotherapy medication — Gemcitabine Hydrochloride, our team represented Hansoh Group and won in the second instance of Jiangsu Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group v. Eli Lilly and Company before the Supreme People's Court.

• Our team represented Jiangsu Heng Rui Medical Co., Ltd. and won in both the first and second instances of Jiangsu Heng Rui Medical Co., Ltd. v. Eli Lilly and Company, a case over invalidation of the patent for "Raloxifene".

• The LexField team represented Jiangsu Heng Rui Medical Co., Ltd. and again won in both the first and second instances of Jiangsu Heng Rui Medical Co., Ltd. v. Aventis Pharma S.A., a case over invalidation of the patent for a pharmaceutical composition — Docetaxel.

• In the case of Aonuo (China) Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. v. Hubei Wushi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., involving an alleged infringement on a patent for pharmaceutical composition — Calcium and zinc gluconates oral solution, LexField represented Wushi Company, who lost in both the first and second instances, to successfully gain the chance of retrial before the Supreme People's Court. The Supreme People's Court brought the case up for trial and finally commuted the original infringement sentence.

Additionally, our litigation team has been involved in more than 20 pharmaceutical patent infringement and invalidation cases in the last few years, and has prevailed in most of the cases.

Mr. Hongyi Jiang, a senior partner, has published numerous papers on intellectual property. These include "Determination and Defense of Pharmaceutical Patent Infringement," "Jurisprudential Discussion on Several Controversial Issues in Pharmaceutical Patent Protection," "Study on Several Issues Concerning Medical Method Patent Infringement," "Case Study on Pharmaceutical Patent Infringement Appraisal," "Choice in Dilemma — Review on the Application of Laws in China's First 'Bolar Exception' Case," "Establishment and Development of the Bolar Exception Principle and its Application in China," and "Current Legislative and Judicial Situation Analysis on Intellectual Property of Pharmaceutical Products in China." He has also published articles in such journals as "Chinese Medicine News," "China Intellectual Property News," "China Invention & Patent," and "China Patent & Trademarks."

Mr. Hongyi Jiang has long served as an administrative medicine protection legal counsel for the State Food and Drug Administration. He has also been a core researcher on a national IP strategic project entitled, "Research on the Intellectual Property Issues in Pharmaceutical Field."

In recent years, Mr. Hongyi Jiang has given nearly 20 lectures on pharmaceutical patent litigation in various IP workshops and training classes concerning pharmaceutical products.  During 2010, he also wrote and delivered the following lectures:

• "Several Issues Concerning the Judicial Protection of Traditional Medicine" as part of the "Development of Traditional Medicine Industry and the Protection of its Intellectual Property Forum," held by the Committee of Pharmaceutical Intellectual Property Research under China Pharmaceutical Association and China Intellectual Property Office.

• "Analysis of Typical Patent Litigation Cases in Biology and Medicine" for the "Biology and Medicine Field Professionals Training Course," convened in Dalian, by the China Intellectual Property Training Center.

• "Case Analysis on Hot and Controversial Issues in Pharmaceutical Patent Litigation" during the "Pharmaceutical Intellectual Property Seminar," held by the Committee of Pharmaceutical Intellectual Property Research under the auspices of the China Pharmaceutical Association.