On Legal Issues Arousing From Patent Parallel Imports

Patent Parallel Imports is a heated topic which belongs to intellectual property rights and international trade. It refers to the issue that whether the patentee or licensor have the right to forbid the patented products which manufactured legally imported from a foreign country. Though the topic has been discussed for many years, no clear specifications have been set until now, including the international treaties. Therefore the author believes that to study on this topic can give our country some hints on its settlement. In Chapter 1, the author briefly introduces the basic concept, characteristics of patent parallel imports and the reason for its forming as the beginning of this thesis.Then in Chapter 2, the author introduces two principles, i. e. Principle of Territory Exhaustion and Exhaustion of Rights, which opposes or supports Patent Parallel Imports. After comparison between these two principles, the author puts forwards her opinion which stands by Principle of Territory Exhaustion. In Chapter 3, several countries' legislation and cases are introduced in order to use them for China' s reference. In Chapter 4, the author raises her suggestions on Patent Parallel Imports according to the national situation of China, that is, Patent Parallel Imports should be regarded as infringement against patent rights and thus should be forbidden.