Research On The Principle Of Good Faith In Patent Application

The newly promulgated the Patent Law of the People’s Republic of China have introduced "Principle of good faith",which added the content of "the principle of good faith should be followed in applying for patents and exercising patent rights",If there are factors of dishonesty in the patent application stage,once such a patent application is granted a patent right,there will inevitably be factors of dishonesty in the patent right enforcement stage.Therefore,it is extremely important to reasonably and effectively regulate behaviors that violate the principle of good faith at the process of patent application.However,the newly promulgated the Chinese Patent Law does not provide more detailed regulations on the specific application of the principle of good faith,and it is difficult to play its due positive role in curbing dishonest patent applications and promoting the establishment and maintenance of a fair competition order in the innovative market.This thesis aims to find an effective and applicable method through a comprehensive and in-depth study of the application of the principle of good faith in the Chinese Patent Law.Based on the comparative analysis of the inequitable conduct doctrine in the United States and the provisions of the principle of good faith in the Patent law in Europe,Japan and Canada,this thesis argues that the performance of the obligation of prior art disclosure should essentially comply with the principle of good faith,but the principle of good faith does not inherently include the performance of the obligation of prior art disclosure.On this basis,this thesis proposes that the responsible individuals for complying with the principle of good faith include not only patent applicants,but also anyone who contacts and modifies patent application documents during the filing or prosecution of patent application,e.g.inventor,patent agent and patent agency.Clarify the types of acts that violate the principle of good faith during the filing or prosecution of patent application,which can be summarized as four types: " Knowing that the technical solution does not have the prospect of patent authorization and still file a patent application " "intentionally misrepresent to mislead patent administration departments" "plagiarize others’ technical achievements and apply for patents " "dishonest acts that do not affect the conditions for granting patent rights".For the first three types of dishonesty,it is recommended that the Patent Law and related regulations incorporate dishonest entities and individuals into the credit system.In addition,For the first three types of dishonesty can be used as grounds for the patent rejection and patent invalidation,defenses for patent infringement litigation,reasons for the administrative punishment,and recovery of profits obtained from other than self-implementation of patented technology,criminal liability can be considered if the situation is particularly serious.