1. What are the methods for determining invention patent infringement
As for the method of determining infringement of invention patents and utility model patents, the courts basically adopt a three-step method.
1. Determine the corresponding technical characteristics of the allegedly infringing product (including methods, the following are the same). That is, based on the necessary technical features recorded in the claims, the technical features of the allegedly infringing product are correspondingly decomposed.
2. Determine the scope of patent protection. That is, we must first clarify what the patentee is seeking protection for.
According to Article 59 of the Patent Law, the scope of protection of an invention or utility model patent shall be based on the content of its claims. Therefore, the patent claims are the only basis for us to determine the scope of patent protection. According to the provisions of Article 20 of the Implementing Rules of the Patent Law, the claims should have independent claims and may have dependent claims.
The so-called independent claims refer to the technical solution that reflects the invention or utility model as a whole and records the necessary technical features to achieve the purpose of the invention or utility model. The independent claim is written before the dependent claim, and its structure consists of two parts: preamble and characteristics, which together define the scope of protection claimed for the invention or utility model. It can be expressed by the following formula: preface characteristics + characteristic characteristics = protection scope of patent rights. The so-called dependent claims refer to recording additional technical features of the claimed invention or utility model and further limiting the cited claims. Their main function is for the patentee to protect the patent right from being invalidated.
Therefore, the claims mentioned in the determination of patent infringement refer to independent claims, not dependent claims. In order to facilitate comparison, independent claims usually need to be broken down into several relatively independent necessary technical features. This process is to interpret the claims. The legal documents for interpreting claims are the patent specification and drawings. Of course, patent documents are also important reference documents for interpreting claims.
3. Compare the necessary technical features recorded in the decomposed claims one-to-one with the features of the allegedly infringing product.
2. The following situations may occur when determining invention patent infringement
1. The necessary technical features recorded in the patent claims are exactly the same as the features of the allegedly infringing product.
2. The necessary technical features recorded in the patent claims The necessary technical features are not exactly the same as the features of the allegedly infringing product.
The above are the editor’s answers to relevant questions. If you need to know more about the legal aspects Knowledge, welcome to the Legal Savior Network for legal consultation.
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