Improve the patent protection system and create a business environment that respects innovation
——Analysis of Highlights of the Patent Law Amendment
The fourth revision of the Patent Law, initiated in 2014, lasted 6 years and finally settled.
On October 17, the 22nd meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress voted and passed the decision on amending the "Patent Law of the People's Republic of China". The new law will come into effect on June 1, 2021.
The new law has been revised and improved in many aspects to meet the needs of economic and social development and create a good business environment that respects knowledge and innovation.
Increase the cost of infringement and exert legal deterrence
"Increase the cost of infringement, make the infringer pay a heavy price, and give full play to the deterrent of the law." Wang Ruihe, director of the Economic Law Office of the Legal Work Committee of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, said in response to a reporter's question.
The new law has added a punitive compensation system. For intentional infringement of patent rights, the people’s court can determine within 1 to 5 times the amount calculated based on the loss suffered by the right holder, the benefits obtained by the infringer, or the multiple of the patent license fee. The amount of compensation.
Increase the amount of statutory compensation, increase the upper limit of statutory compensation to 5 million yuan and the lower limit to 30,000 yuan.
Wang Ruihe said that by implementing strict intellectual property protection and increasing the cost of illegality, it reflects the orientation of strengthening patent protection and encouraging innovation.
At the same time, the new law improves the provisions on the burden of proof. When the right holder has tried his best to produce evidence, and the account books and information related to the infringement are mainly in the hands of the infringer, the people's court can order the infringer to provide it, thereby reducing the right holder’s proof. burden.
Awaken "sleeping" patents, and promote patent conversion and application
"At present, a considerable number of patent applications in my country have not been properly transformed and used after authorization, and they are still in the'sleeping' stage." Song Jianhua, Director of the Department of Treaty and Law of the State Intellectual Property Office, said, "The new law will effectively promote the transformation and use of patents. , To give full play to the role of patent intangible assets to realize the market value of patents and provide strong support for the innovation and development of the real economy."
The new law completes the service invention system, and adds relevant provisions for units to handle service invention-related rights in accordance with the law, and the state encourages units granted patent rights to implement property rights incentives.
The new law adds provisions to strengthen public services for patent information, clarifies the responsibilities of the patent administration department under the State Council for the construction of the patent information public service system, stipulates that it provides basic patent data, and clarifies that local patent administration departments strengthen patent public services and promote patent implementation and application Responsibilities.
In addition, the new law also adds a patent open license system, stipulates the open license statement and its effective procedures, the licensee's procedures and rights and obligations for obtaining an open license, and the corresponding dispute resolution path.
"The patent open licensing system is conducive to solving the problem of information asymmetry between the supply and demand sides of patented technology, so that any unit or individual can easily obtain a patent license, which is conducive to reducing transaction costs and improving the efficiency of patent conversion." Song Jianhua said.
Establish a compensation system for drug patent term
"At this stage, with the development of my country's pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical companies have gradually increased their R&D investment and innovation capabilities for innovative drugs. Corresponding system design is required to ensure their enthusiasm for new drug R&D." Song Jianhua said that the new law adds patents on drugs. Provisions for time limit compensation.
In order to compensate for the time occupied by the review and approval of new drugs, for new drug-related invention patents that have been approved for marketing in China, compensation shall be granted for the duration of the patent right at the request of the patentee.
The compensation period does not exceed 5 years, and the total effective patent right period after the new drug is approved for marketing does not exceed 14 years.
At the same time, the new law adds provisions for the early resolution of drug patent disputes, aiming to resolve potential patent disputes as soon as possible before the relevant drugs are marketed.
(Our reporter Wang Jinhu)