On Patent Parallel Import

Parallel import, which is the international trade question, refers the intellectual property rights. It is the contradiction which produces by the international commodity free circulation and the intellectual property rights protection, especially the patent product parallel import, which is one of most controversial questions in the international trade and the intellectual property rights domain.The cost, the market and the national interest, which create the same product high quota price in different national, are the primary causes which the patent parallel import occurs .The patent parallel import, is refers to a countries'non-authorized importer, who buy patent holder's or patent holder's authoried, produce or sell product and import to imported country and sell, the product which has attained the import countries. According to patent product origin whether for the identical patent holder, the patent parallel import has the narrow sense and the generalized division. The parallel import involves the tripartite main body, parallel importer (third person), domestic dealer (legitimate product dealer), supplier (patent holder).Whether the obligee does separate namely the domestic and foreign patent holders whether identical had decided the parallel import tripartite different rights and obligations relations, constituted the patent parallel to import two big predominant types.Exhausts principle, the default permission principle, the regional principle is the patent parallel import suitable main principle. Domestic exhausts principle, the patent regional principle, the patent default permission principle from the patent embarks, the patent parallel import should give the prohibition; But the trade liberalization requests the commodity circule between the various countries the freely, the request permission in the patent parallel import. Because the patent parallel import involves the various economic interests, the various countries' opinion is with difficulty consistent. Thus, the TRIPS agreement has not made the unification stipulation regarding this, but decides the prohibition voluntarily by various member nations or not. At present, US, Japan, European Union regarding this have adopted the different legal regulation pattern.Parallel import question occurs very little in China before, with joining into WTO , the overall level of customs duty reduces in large scale, the import and export environment obtained the further optimization, along with the enhancement of Chinese economic potentiality , caused the parallel import has met the requirement from system stratification plane and in the economic basis. Therefore, the patent parallel import question will certainly to be more and more in China, thus, China must have the explicit policy guidance, the legal basis and the specific measures inevitably in the processing parallel import question. Studing other countries legislation practices and considered our country's actual condition, sells exhausts principle is the research and the consummation parallel import system basic starting point. Take the affirmative foundation the explicit exception stipulation basic standpoint adopts regarding our country patent parallel import legislation in principle , is more advantageous to our country's actual situation.