Study On American Patent Inter Parte Review

In recent years,Chinese products,especially those with high technology content,have been outstanding in the United States market,which makes American companies try to restrict the development of Chinese companies in the United States market by using various means,such as filing patent lawsuits and launching 337 investigations,in order to protect their own interests.Therefore,in order to protect the rights and interests of Chinese enterprises in the United States and help Chinese enterprises cope with intellectual property risks in the United States,we need to constantly pay attention to the development and changes of the American patent system,which has a significant impact on enterprises,and discuss its possible impact on the development of Chinese enterprises.The America Invents Act signed on September 16,2011,switched U.S.right to the patent from the previous "first-to-invent" system to a "first-inventor-to-file" system for patent applications filed on or after March 16,2013,which is considered as an important reform of the patent system.Meanwhile,in the revision of the patent law,the original procedures of Inter Parte Reexamination were modified into two independent procedures: Inter Parte Review(IPR)and Post Grant Review(PGR).The patent reexamination procedure has evolved from the original reexamination procedure,but it has modified many aspects of it.The modified aspects mainly includes: defining the trial time limit of IPR procedures.The interpretation principle of rights claim in IPR procedure is defined as "the broadest reasonable interpretation".The standard of proof in IPR procedures is clearly defined as "preponderant evidence".At last,the patent modification methods and requirements in IPR procedures are clarified.Since the implementation of IPR,the frequency of use of the procedure has greatly exceeded people's expectations.IPR procedures have also caused problems and become a hot topic of discussion in the U.S.patent law community.For example,disputes arising from the principle of “Broadest Reasonable Interpretation Standard" adopted in IPR procedures,the constitutionality of IPR procedures,issues relating to the modification of patent documents in IPR procedures,and the discussion of the principle of "estoppel".Despite the controversy,IPR has now become an important legal procedure to determine the validity of invention patents in parallel with judicial judgment,and the impact on patent litigation system in the United States cannot be ignored.IPR procedures are becoming an effective weapon against NPE and the prevention of malicious patent litigation,and their implementation helps to reduce the cost of corporate patent litigation and reduce the number of patent litigation.But whether it will affect the enthusiasm of innovation subjects in the long term remains to be seen.Chinese enterprises should actively study the impact of IPR procedures on the protection of their overseas intellectual property rights,and utilize IPR procedures to protect their interests.To be specific,for Chinese enterprises,IPR may be the most powerful counterattack weapon when Chinese enterprises are sued for infringement.Enterprises can obtain the bargaining chips for reconciliation through IPR procedures,but they should have sufficient understanding for the advantage and limitation of IPR procedures.In this paper it's also discussed that the possibility of Chinese enterprises using IPR program to deal with 337 investigation,and the method of using IPR program to protect Chinese enterprises at sea.