Turn danger into safety: The ZYIP team helps a multinational car company overcome a major compliance crisis involving strict confidentiality reviews in the United States.

2025-11-19

I. Case Introduction
A globally leading multinational enterprise in automotive parts, due to its failure to fully fulfill the invention location confidentiality review obligation stipulated by the US patent law during the R&D collaboration in both China and the US, is facing a significant compliance risk where its core patents in the US cannot be authorized or even lose their rights. The ZYIP international team intervened urgently and, through efficient legal communication and procedural remedies, successfully obtained the forgiveness from the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and reissued the license for it. At the same time, they systematically optimized the global patent proposal process for the client, transforming a potential crisis into an opportunity to enhance the overall compliance level.

II. Case Details
1.Customer type/Industry
A global-based automotive parts multinational enterprise with significant R&D centers in both China and the United States.

2. Customer Pain Points/Problem Description
(1) Major Compliance Violation: One of the client's inventions was submitted for a Chinese patent application without truthfully disclosing its origin in the United States. Moreover, before obtaining the confidentiality review permission from the USPTO, the non-US application was submitted. This action violated the mandatory regulations of the mandatory confidentiality review in the United States.
(2) Severe Consequences: According to US law, this violation will directly result in the inability to obtain patent authorization for this invention in the United States. The submitted application faces extremely high risks of being rejected, being deemed abandoned, or being unable to enter the judicial enforcement process, seriously impacting its global patent layout.

3. Solutions and Processes
The ZYIP team initiated a high-priority risk response mechanism and adopted a dual-track strategy of "immediate remediation" and "system optimization":
(1) Emergency Legal Remediation: In response to the already occurred violations, the ZYIP team, on behalf of the client, continuously submitted multiple rounds of professional petitions to the USPTO, actively and comprehensively presenting the invention background, the Sino-US R&D division and cooperation timeline, and fully demonstrating the client's integrity and compliance intentions. Eventually, they successfully persuaded the authorities, obtaining a retroactive confidentiality review permission for reissuance, resolving the most urgent legal crisis.
(2) Establishing a Systemic Defense Line: To address the root cause, the ZYIP team assisted the client in comprehensively sorting out and optimizing the intellectual property management process of its cross-border R&D projects, and formulated standardized measures, including:
Establish a standardized collection template that includes sensitive information such as the location of the invention, the nationality and place of residence of the inventor.
② Establish a rapid review and early warning mechanism for confidentiality in each country;
③ Develop a selection strategy for the first-case applicant country that takes into account compliance, timeliness, and cost.
④ It is recommended that the "Risk Checklist Before Proposal" and the "Approval Roadmap" be implemented internally.

4. Achievements/Results
(1) Risk successfully mitigated: Within the shortest time frame, the ZYIP team assisted the client in restoring the compliance status of the involved patent application in the United States, ensuring the smooth progress of subsequent sub-proceedings and substantive examination procedures.
(2) Fundamental process optimization: The client's global patent proposal and submission process was systematically strengthened, effectively preventing the recurrence of similar compliance risks from the outset.
(3) Received high recognition: The client highly praised and recognized the professional capabilities and responsible attitude demonstrated by the ZYIP team during the crisis.

III. Case Significance
This case profoundly reveals the complexity and extreme importance of intellectual property compliance management in the context of globalized R&D. The successful intervention by the ZYIP team demonstrates that top-level intellectual property services are not only about obtaining rights, but also about managing risks. By transforming a passive crisis response into an active process reengineering and system performance capacity building, the ZYIP team helped the client realize that a strict compliance system is not an operating cost, but a core competitive barrier and "moat" that guarantees the stability of cross-border business and supports the sustainability of its global strategy for the enterprise. This case provides valuable experience for all enterprises engaged in cross-border R&D activities regarding compliance risk warning, emergency response, and system construction.

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