Equitable Restrictions On The Application Of Doctrine Of Equivalents

Doctrine of equivalents is a rule of interpreting patented claims which is widely applied to the practice of patent infringement litigations in various countries. The reason of creating this rule lies in that"the nature of language makes it impossible to capture the essence of a thing in a patent application". However, in order to ensure the legal effect of"publicity"of the patented claims on the public and to balance their benefits to the patentees and the public, the application of doctrine of equivalents should also be equitably restricted. The present text is directed to discuss the connotation of doctrine of equivalents, criteria for judging the same, as well as the connotations of other accessorial rules applicable to the restrictions on doctrine of equivalents, their application scopes, functions, etc., and hopefully it will provide analysis and suggestions beneficial to the development and perfection of doctrine of equivalents in this country.The text of the present dissertation is divided into five chapters, as summarized below:Chapter I: The doctrine of equivalents and the necessity of equitable restrictions on its application, which is further divided into two sections. The first section summarizes the connotation of doctrine of equivalents, analyzes its necessity and provides criteria for judging doctrine of...