Let's continue the discussion on “Introduction to Intellectual Property and Understanding Intellectual Property”. Among them, today we will look at “interpretation of the scope of rights”.
Patent rights play a role in keeping competitors' products in check so that patented technologies can monopolize the market.
1. Meaning of Claims
Since the claims described in the specification are subject to the examiner's perspectives, the claims described at the time of filing are not yet finalized.
When a patent is registered, the protection scope of the patented invention is determined by the claims of the specification. Take the Segway as an example. In claim 1, the Segway includes a support platform, a ground contact module, a power drive device, and a control loop. Therefore, there is a possibility that a product infringes on the representative patent of Segway if it includes all of these components and has the same limited content .
2. Interpretation of claims
In general, the principle of interpretation of claims is to interpret the scope of rights only with the matters described in the claims. In the case of Segway, in claim 1, wheels are described as “ground contact module” in a more comprehensive sense, and thus all vehicles for personal transport using Caterpillar were intended to be included in the scope of patent rights of Segway. As such, in the interpretation of the claims, when the claims are unclear, the protection level is judged by referring to the drawings or the detailed description of the invention (this helps to prevent the extended interpretation of the claims in advance). In addition, the scope of protection is judged by taking into account the opinion expressed by the patent examiner during the patent application process.
3. Patent Infringement
Patent infringement is divided into direct infringement and indirect infringement. Direct infringement is when an invention described in a claim is carried out as a business without permission. Indirect infringement means any other infringement.
In the case of literal infringement, it means that the subject of infringement includes the contents described in the claims of the original patent as they are. This judgment of literal infringement follows the rule of all component, which is judged as literal infringement if all of the elements constituting the invention are included in the claims. That is, if the patented invention is a + b + c, it means that a + b + c and a + b + c + d belong to infringement, but a + b does not belong to infringement.
In the case of equivalent infringement, the theory is that if the infringed object does not completely coincide with the invention described in the claims, but some of the components are in an equivalent relationship, it is regarded as patent infringement. For example, if the technical idea and solution principle of the invention are the same, the operation and effect of the substituted element is the same as that of the original invention element, and such substitution is obvious to those skilled in the art, it corresponds to an infringement of equivalents.
Indirect infringement refers to a preliminary act that is highly likely to lead to infringement if left as it is. also, an act that induces individuals to final assembly while selling only the components of a patented invention as a business is still an indirect infringement. An act of transferring, producing, leasing, importing, or offering to assign or lease a product used only for due diligence or production of an invention belongs to indirect infringement.
Today, we learned about “interpretation of the scope of rights”. Next, we will discuss “patent trial and litigation system”.
*I am a student learning IP, not an IP expert. Translation is also by Google translator and my insufficient English skills. I hope it will be helpful for those who do not have the relevant knowledge or who want to learn about IP.
*The above is what I learned from a book compiled by the Korean Intellectual Property Office and Korea Invention Promotion Association (published by Pakmungak) entitled “Introduction to Intellectual Property, Understanding Intellectual Property”.
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