Research On The Identification Of "Technical Features" In Patent Infringement Litigation

The determination of technical features is the focus of patent infringement litigation.It is the core step in determining whether the infringed product infringes,and the determination of any technical feature affects the outcome of infringement determination.The difference between the objectivity of the performance of technical features and the certain subjectivity in the process of identifying technical features is very likely to cause disputes in the identification of technical features,thus resulting in the identification of the same or different,equivalent or not equivalent difference results.In judicial practice,the complexity of technology leads to the difficulty of identifying technical features,which is also the main reason why different courts have different results on the identification of technical features.This different evaluation of technical features often produces completely opposite infringement results,which not only affects the authority and stability of judicial trials,but also hinders the development of national scientific and technological innovation and the smooth implementation of intellectual property strategy.As China promotes the construction of a strong IPR country,improving the level of judicial trials is an inevitable requirement for the construction of a strong IPR country and an important guarantee for the promotion of national scientific and technological innovation and the realization of IPR protection.Improving the level of judicial adjudication requires specific analysis of specific problems and targeted recommendations.Therefore,this paper examines the cases in which there are differences in the determination of technical features in judicial practice,examines the underlying causes of the problems and makes suggestions,hoping that it will have positive significance in solving the problems in the determination of technical features in patent infringement litigation and promote the development of national science and technology innovation.This paper firstly analyzes the composition of technical features in terms of the definition of "technical features" of patents,how to determine technical features of patents and how to classify technical features in patent infringement lawsuits.Secondly,the cases heard by the Supreme People’s Court in recent years in which different technical features were identified are examined and the reasons for the differences in the identification of technical features are analyzed.The cases are classified into two categories: whether the technical features are the same or equal,and four specific problems in the determination of technical features are summarized,and the main reason affecting the determination of technical features is the difference in the court’s ability to identify objective technical facts,which leads to different results in the determination of technical features.Again,by examining the rules and factors influencing the determination of technical features in patent infringement litigation in the United States,Germany and Japan,we summarize the similarities and differences and analyze the implications for the development of China.Finally,based on the above analysis,the main factors affecting the identification of technical features are firstly the technical facts,especially the identification of the technical facts of the infringed products,and secondly the legal reasons,which are also affected by the technical facts to a large extent.Therefore,it is necessary to solve the problems of technical features identification in patent infringement litigation from solving the problem of technical facts identification,promote the improvement of technical features fact finding ability,and finally realize the improvement of judicial trial level.