On The Doctrine Of Equivalents Judgment In Patent Infringement And Interactivity With Technological Advancement

The Doctrine of Equivalents in patent infringement (“Equivalents Doctrine”) is a set of judicial principlesaccording to which courts identify whether specific patent infringements are equivalents-based infringements. Thespecification elements of Equivalents Doctrine includes three factor testing method of way-function-effect, theprinciple of all conditions, and some other limiting rules like the estoppels in the process of patent examination,prior art defense, public disclosure of contributions, reversal, etc. In this dissertation, the author deems theEquivalents Doctrine as “secondary affirmation of patent” by the judicial authorities for patents right on thetechnology innovation market. The strictness and width of the equivalents scope will influence the degree andscale of imitative innovation, and the pace of technological advancement, the quality of technological results, andthe structure of technological innovation market.Based on the understanding that Equivalents Doctrine is the property rule in the orbit of technologicalinnovation, in this dissertation, the author analyzes the interactivity between Equivalents Doctrine andtechnological innovation in the category of institutional economics. Further, the author gives the hypothesis that inthe adjustable equivalents scope, the technological advancement level and the equivalents scope are quite relevant.They are mutually adaptable and promotional. In theory, the author analyzes this from three perspectives, i.e. theinteractivity between the technological advancement level and the patent width, the interactivity betweentechnological advancement level and the equivalents scope in the technological innovation market, and theinteractivity between the country’s overall technical level and equivalents margin. From the empirical perspective,the author analyzes the patent judicial cases in the US, German, and Japan with the intention to verify theinteractivity between the Equivalents Doctrine and the technological advancement.The Chinese Equivalents Doctrine tremendously transplanted the specification elements of US law. Due to thefact that China and Japan followed the same catch-up modernization approach, in this dissertation, the authorholds that the practice of Japan in its similar economic and technological development period is valuable for Chinain implementing Equivalents Doctrine. In the present stage, the intellectual property policies of China shouldemphasize the promotion of imitation-based innovation and the prosperity of the technology market; further, thescope of equivalents should not be defined too broadly. After China makes great strides in technology andupgrading of the economy structure, the scope of the patent equivalence may be broadened in due course. Theintellectual property policies should be transformed to focus on the protection of self-innovation with the higherprotection level. Due to the heterogeneity among the regions in China, the balance-breaking “pro-patent” judicialpolicies formed during the regional competition, are conducive to promoting regional resources and complementary systems, as long as they are still within the range ensuring positive and beneficial interactionbetween institution and technology.