In January 2010, Guodian Futong Company unexpectedly received a summons from an Indian court. They were sued by the Italian Magaldi Company on the grounds of patent infringement for having bid on a "power plant ash removal system technology" project in Chennai, India. 

This company is the main competitor of Guodian Futong overseas. Not only did they accuse Guodian Futong of patent infringement, but they also requested the court to issue a temporary injunction during the lawsuit. A temporary injunction refers to a court order issued before the case is heard, which temporarily prohibits Guodian Futong from bidding and the results of the bidding. For Guodian Futong, which has just completed the bidding, this means that it may be shut out of the Indian market before even getting a foot in the door. Such cases are not uncommon. Later, when Xiaomi sought to enter the Indian market in 2014, it was sued by Ericsson for patent infringement, and the court also issued a temporary injunction, making Xiaomi phones temporarily unable to enter the Indian market. 

Like Xiaomi's goal, Guodian Futong also sees the huge market potential in India. Entering India is of great significance to the company's internationalization strategy. Therefore, Guodian Futong cannot afford to lose and must resolve the lawsuit as soon as possible. Thus, Guodian Futong once again turned to Sunshine IP, fully entrusting it to handle the lawsuit in India. A year ago, it had entrusted Sunshine IP to provide overseas patent infringement risk warnings for the anticipated patent litigation disputes. 

At that time, the court date in India was set for February 17th, which happened to be the fourth day of the first lunar month, the Chinese Spring Festival. The litigation team of Sunshine IP couldn't personally send New Year's greetings to their relatives and friends that Spring Festival, but they brought back the good news of a successful lawsuit. 

Thanks to thorough preparations, after four court hearings, the Italian Magaldi Company's lawsuit claims were all rejected. The High Court of India reopened the Indian market for Guodian Futong. Both Reference News and China Intellectual Property News made timely special reports on this case. The reason for such a swift victory was a crucial pre-emptive move - the overseas patent warning analysis work conducted by Sanju Sunlight for Guodian Futong. This move identified infringement risks and proposed countermeasures, effectively neutralizing the opponent's blitzkrieg. 

Intellectual property overseas early warning, simply put, is to help enterprises proactively avoid patent infringement risks in overseas markets through prior patent analysis. Generally speaking, the patent infringement risks that enterprises face abroad are diverse. For instance, patent infringement risks may arise when products are directly sold or sold by middlemen in foreign countries, when they are offered for sale, when participating in commercial exhibitions, when setting up factories, or when establishing research and development centers. 

At present, the intellectual property management departments of some enterprises regularly communicate with the R&D and marketing departments to determine the major R&D directions and target markets of the enterprise, grasp the patent layout of competitors abroad, and conduct in-depth analysis of the retrieved patents. They either prepare analysis reports themselves or entrust external professional institutions to do so, determine the risk level, and formulate response plans. Once encountering patent infringement risks, they will quickly formulate contingency plans, promptly feed back the results to the decision-making level, and thereby formulate and adjust relevant business strategies. 

However, patent early warning work involves professional patent data retrieval, screening, patent infringement analysis, as well as risk avoidance and response, which are often accomplished through team collaboration. To achieve good results, it requires a high level of professional expertise. Therefore, to ensure quality and efficiency, most enterprises choose external service agencies to undertake this work. Thus, choosing a reliable intellectual property service agency becomes particularly important. So, how to select a trustworthy agency? Here are three suggestions for readers to consider. 

First, look at the service experience of the service provider. When considering experience, it is necessary to examine the past performance of the service provider in the field of intellectual property risk early warning. Take Sunshine IP as an example. Besides the Guodian Futong project, there are many successful cases. For instance, the overseas intellectual property early warning project for high-speed train brake pads comprehensively analyzed the global layout of the product and the risks in the European market, providing effective support for the export of China's high-speed rail braking technology to overseas markets. Additionally, Sunshine IP has been undertaking the "Beijing Enterprises Overseas Intellectual Property Early Warning Analysis Project" of the Beijing Intellectual Property Office for over a decade, and has also been responsible for important special research projects such as the "Research on the Intellectual Property Environment in India" and "Research on the Intellectual Property Environment in the Middle East" of the National Intellectual Property Administration, as well as various local intellectual property office projects related to enterprise intellectual property strategy promotion plans, high-value patent cultivation, and various patent navigation projects. 

Second, look at the service team of the service provider. 

When evaluating a team, it is not only necessary to consider the number of team members, but also their professional experience. The service team of Sunshine IP responsible for overseas intellectual property early warning analysis consists of over 20 full-time patent analysts. Many of them have more than 10 years of professional experience, and most of them are also qualified patent agents. As a member of the capital's intellectual property service industry's teaching resource pool, the team members also provide a wealth of patent consultation service training to the outside world every year. 

Thirdly, look at the service brand of the service provider. 

When evaluating the reputation of an institution, it is not only necessary to consider the satisfaction of its clients with the services provided, but also to look at the honors it has received. Sunshine IP is one of the first batch of "Intellectual Property Analysis and Evaluation Service Demonstration Creation Institutions" awarded by the National Intellectual Property Administration, as well as one of the first batch of "National Intellectual Property Service Brand Institution Cultivation Units" and "Beijing Intellectual Property Service Brand Institutions". This indicates that the intellectual property research and consulting service capabilities of Sunshine IP have long been recognized by the National Intellectual Property Administration and other national authorities.