Schneider fined $45m for patent infringement

The Intermediate People's Court in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province has ordered France's Schneider Electric to pay a US$45 million in damages to a Chinese company for patent infringement, the largest amount ever awarded in an intellectual property case in the country, the Financial Times reported. The court also issued an injunction ordering Schneider to stop making five types of miniature circuit-breaker that infringed on patents held by low-voltage equipment maker Chint Group. The amount of the damages is based on Schneider's profits from product sales between August 2004 and July 2006. Schneider intends to appeal and challenge Chint's patents in a separate case, asserting that it has used the technology in the disputed circuit-breakers since the early 1990s, predating Chint's patent applications in 1999.