Huati Technology, which landed on the A-share market on June 21, saw its stock price surge by 44% on its first day of listing, followed by seven consecutive daily limit-up boards. A month after its IPO, Huati Technology has been sued again by an 'old enemy'.

　　On the evening of July 24, Huati Technology issued an announcement stating that it had received a civil lawsuit. Guizhou Lishida Lighting Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Guizhou Lishida) accused Huati Technology and two other defendants of patent infringement, with the amount in dispute being 32.4206 million yuan. At the same time, Huati Technology also disclosed that it received another lawsuit on the same day, with the plaintiff being Guizhou Lishida again.

　　The dispute between Guizhou Lishida and Huati Technology has a long history, with both parties frequently in court in recent years. Guizhou Lishida was once a distributor for Huati Technology, but later a rift developed between them.

Total amount of the two cases exceeds 40 million

　　According to Huati Technology's disclosure on the evening of the 24th, on July 21, it received the "Civil Complaint" and related litigation documents sent by the Guiyang Intermediate People's Court. According to the "Civil Complaint", Guizhou Lishida believes that the streetlights installed in the "Kairi Economic Development Zone Streetlight Lighting Upgrade and Transformation Project" by the Kairi Economic Development Zone Urban and Rural Management Bureau, Jiangsu Chengxu Electric Group Co., Ltd., and Huati Technology are the same or similar to its appearance design patent products and therefore filed a lawsuit with the court. The three defendants are the Kairi Economic Development Zone Urban and Rural Management Bureau, Jiangsu Chengxu Electric Group Co., Ltd., and Huati Technology.

　　Guizhou Lishida's litigation request is:

1. Order the defendants to cease infringing on the plaintiff's appearance design patent;

2. Order the three defendants to jointly compensate Guizhou Lishida for economic losses of 32.4206 million yuan;

3. The defendants jointly bear the litigation fees and the plaintiff's legal fees in this case.

　　Huati Technology does not agree with the plaintiff's claim of alleged infringement. Huati Technology stated that the "Kairi Economic Development Zone Streetlight Lighting Upgrade and Transformation Project" requires a total of 2032 sets of streetlight products. These streetlight products are the company's patented products, all of which have been approved by the State Intellectual Property Office and have obtained corresponding appearance design patent certificates and are protected by law.

　　On July 25, a relevant person from Guizhou Lishida was contacted, who stated that the above-mentioned dispute will be heard on August 16. In addition to this lawsuit, Guizhou Lishida has another lawsuit requesting Huati Technology to pay more than 9 million yuan in compensation, "the total compensation request is more than 40 million," said the relevant person.

　　Huati Technology also disclosed that it received another lawsuit on the same day. The plaintiff is Guizhou Lishida, and the defendants are the Kairi City Public Lighting Management Center and Jiangxi Shen'an Yaming Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd. Among them, Huati Technology is required to jointly compensate the plaintiff for economic losses of 9.5437 million yuan.

　　In fact, the lawsuit amount of over 40 million yuan is not a small sum for Huati Technology. The company's previous prospectus disclosed that in 2014-2016, its net profits attributable to shareholders were 35.57 million yuan, 42.56 million yuan, and 48.07 million yuan, respectively.

　　So, what impact will this lawsuit have on Huati Technology? On July 25, reporters repeatedly called Huati Technology, but the company's phone remained unanswered. Huati Technology stated in its announcement that the lawsuit "has an uncertain impact on the company's current and future profits." However, it claims that the streetlight products involved in the lawsuit are not the company's main products, and this lawsuit will not directly affect the company's daily production and operations.

The plaintiff was formerly the company's distributor

　　The relevant person from Guizhou Lishida stated that "Lishida" is a lighting company headquartered in Wenjiang District, Chengdu City, and the Guizhou Lishida involved in this lawsuit is one of its subsidiaries.

　　The entanglement between Guizhou Lishida and Huati Technology has a long history; Lishida was once a regional distributor for Huati Technology.

　　Previously, the two parties had been involved in continuous lawsuits and counter-suits due to a contract dispute that began at the end of 2014.

　　In October 2015, Guizhou Lishida countersued Huati Technology. In the relevant lawsuit documents at that time, Guizhou Lishida stated that it was once Huati Technology's distributor in the Guizhou region. According to the two "Lighting Product Purchase and Sale Contracts" of December 2014, Huati Technology provided it with 585 sets of magnolia lamps (later reduced to 583 sets), and actually delivered 408 sets (all sold in Gui'an New District). However, some problems occurred during the execution of the contract, and later both parties went to court over it.

　　On December 30, 2016, the China Judgment Documents Network disclosed a "Second Instance Civil Judgment of Sichuan Huati Lighting Technology Co., Ltd. and Guizhou Lishida Lighting Technology Co., Ltd. on Purchase and Sale Contract Dispute." According to this civil judgment, Huati Technology was the original plaintiff and counter-defendant; Guizhou Lishida was the original defendant and counter-plaintiff.

　　The judgment made by the Guiyang Intermediate People's Court only upheld the first item of the first instance judgment: Guizhou Lishida pays Huati Technology 3.248 million yuan in payment and 0.054 million yuan in interest losses, totaling 3.302 million yuan.