In today's era of knowledge economy, intellectual property rights, as the basis of promoting scientific and technological progress and economic development, are becoming more and more important.At the fourth session of the 13th National People's Congress in March this year, Premier Li Keqiang pointed out in his government work report that all kinds of infringements should be dealt with seriously in accordance with the law, and cases of property rights disputes should be identified and corrected in accordance with the law.We will strengthen protection of intellectual property rights, introduce a system of punitive compensation for infringement of intellectual property rights, and unleash market vitality and social creativity with strong protection of intellectual property rights
The importance the country attaches to intellectual property rights can also be reflected in the Patent Law of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the new Patent Law), which will come into force on June 1, 2021.
We will encourage innovation, promote commercialization, and boost the development of the real economy.According to paragraph 2 of Article 15 of the new Patent Law, the State encourages the entity that has been granted a patent right to offer property right incentives and to make the inventor or designer share the benefits of innovation in a reasonable way by means of stock rights, options and dividends. The provision aims to further stimulate the vitality of innovation subjects.In addition, the new Patent Law also provides an open licensing system for the transformation of patent achievements, which has greatly stimulated social creativity.
Extending the patent protection period.The new Patent Law also provides for a further extension of the duration of patent protection.Article 42 provides for the extension of the duration of patent right for designs from ten years to fifteen years. It is further provided that where a patent right for invention is granted at the expiration of four years from the date of application for a patent for invention and three years from the date of request for substantial examination, the patent administration department under the State Council shall, at the request of the patentee, compensate the duration of the patent right for unreasonable delay in the authorization of the patent for invention. There will also be further compensation for the duration of patents related to new drugs approved for marketing in China.
Improving evidence rules.In order to solve the difficulties in proving in patent cases, Article 71 of the new Patent Law stipulates that if the right holder has tried his best to provide proof, but the infringer mainly has the account books and materials related to the infringement, the infringer can be ordered to provide them,thus reducing the burden of proof of the right holder.
Raising infringement cost and strengthening protection.In terms of strengthening intellectual property protection, Article 71 stipulates that the amount of compensation for infringement of a patent right shall be determined on the basis of the actual losses suffered by the obligee or the profits gained by the infringer as a result of the infringement. Where it is difficult to determine the loss of the right holder or the benefit obtained by the infringer, it shall be reasonably determined by reference to the multiple of the patent license fee.Where the patent right is intentionally infringed upon, if the circumstances are serious, the amount of compensation may be fixed at not less than one time but not more than five times the amount determined according to the above-mentioned methods. The punitive compensation system for intentional infringement of patent rights has changed the bridge principle of patent compensation to make the patentee feel the strong protection of intellectual property rights.
We can feel that intellectual property protection has become the main theme of scientific and technological innovation and social progress, providing a strong legal guarantee for stimulating the innovation vitality of enterprises.It can be said that owning independent intellectual property rights means firmly holding the destiny in one's own hands. As the subjects of innovation, we should not only be good at patent implementation and application, but also have the courage to protect our rights when encountering infringement.
