The Repair Of The Patented Product, Recycling Legal Issues

On the repair and reconstruction of patented products, there were many cases in the USA and Japan, while it is still a relatively new research area in our country, there were few of related cases and the regulation also need improvement. The matter of repair and reconstruction of patented products is not only related to the application of the principle of patent exhaustion, but also involve the interests of patentees, purchaser of patented products and other parties. Therefore, how to distinguish repair from reconstruction of patented products has an important meaning both in theorety and in practice.Firstly, this paper raises two questions by introduce the case of recycled Canon printer ink cartridge -- how to distinguish repair from reconstruction, what is the application conditions of the principle of patent exhaustion, and analyses the meaning of that distinction which need take the legal, policy and efficiency into consideration. Then, a theore--tical analysis follows:analysis of the power of patent firstly to clear that it is necessary to disscuss the distinction only the actions relates to the parts invovled in claims for purposes of business; then focus on the meaning and application of the principle of patent exhaustion and the theorety of implied license, points out the owner has right to carry out repair to the legally sold the products but no right to reconstruct. After theoretical analysis,I studed the American cases and Japanese cases to learn some relevant judicial experience, finally, some advices are given to improve the legal system on this issuse in our country:we should improve the legislation by defining the concept of repair and reconstruction reasonablely and establishing the standard of reconstruction in principle; The judge in handling such cases should follow these principles, such as:principles of protection of patent and prevention abuse patent, the principle of interests balance, the principle of economic interests.