Burden of proof: process inventions

In actions relating to patent infringement, where the invention takes the form of a product, the burden of proving infringement rests with the party alleging infringement; but where the invention takes the form of a process for obtaining a product and there is cogent evidence — including a reliable expert opinion — that the product obtained may have been made through the said process, and the process actually used cannot be established with reasonable efforts, then in civil actions the burden of proving that the product was not produced through that process rests with the defendant to the infringement action. In this case, where the defendant, in order to prove their claim, presents documents or production or commercial secrets to the court or the official court expert, disclosure thereof is prohibited, and the perpetrator shall, in addition to compensating the damage, be sentenced to the maximum punishment prescribed for disclosure of trade secrets, and the enforcement of that punishment may not be suspended.