Compaq Sued in Chinese CourtThe Compaq company of the United States was sued for 4.1 million U.S. dollars in compensation for infringements of intellectual property rights at a local court in Beijing Tuesday.The intellectual property right court of the higher court of Beijing city opened the trial of this case Tuesday morning. The court was adjourned at noon as the judge announced that the verdict will be handed down on a future date, yet to be decided. Chinese person Ma Xiguang and the Shenzhen Chuangge company jointly charged the American company for selling in China the Armada 1550T laptop computer containing replaceable batteries and upgrading slots that infringed on their patents for similar technologies. They asked Compaq to pay 34,025,899.6 yuan (about 4.1 million U.S. dollars) in compensation, make a public apology and pay all litigation expenses. Ma registered patents for the replaceable batteries and upgrading slots with the Patent Office of China on April 12, 1990.The technologies are mainly used for laptop computers. In 1997, Ma and the Shenzhen Chuangge company re-registered as the co-owners of the rights to the technologies at the Patent Office. Compaq began to sell the Armada 1550T laptops in China in 1995. An agent from the company asked the local court to reject the charges made by the Chinese plaintiff. |
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