Research On The Punitive Damages System For Patent Infringemen

The Patent Law of the People’s Republic of China was amended for the fourth time on 17 October 2020 and came into effect on 1 June 2021.This amendment introduced a punitive damages system in the patent field,and immediately afterwards,the Supreme People’s Court issued the Interpretation on the Application of Punitive Damages in the Trial of Civil Cases of Infringement of Intellectual Property Rights on 3 March 2021,which provides for punitive damages for intellectual property rights in more detail,the provisions of the law and the judicial interpretation on the punitive damages system have greatly enhanced the protection of intellectual property rights in China and reflected the determination to protect patent rights.However,the vitality of the law lies in its implementation,and the authority of the law also lies in its implementation.Whether the punitive damages system for patent infringement can effectively protect patent rights depends on whether it can be reasonably implemented in subsequent judicial practice.Nowadays,there are problems in the judicial practice of the punitive damages system in the field of patents,such as unclear conditions of application and the lack of specific and detailed provisions on the base and multiples of punitive damages,which make the application of the punitive damages system difficult in practice.In addition,it is necessary to plan ahead and impose reasonable restrictions on the punitive damages system,so as to prevent the excessive application of the punitive damages system.Therefore,it is necessary to further define the conditions of application of punitive damages,determine the base amount of punitive damages and clarify the multiplier of punitive damages,so that the punitive damages system can play an important role in judicial practice.In this article,we analyse the conditions of application of the existing punitive damages system for patent infringement in China,and then study and analyse the determination of the base and multiplier of punitive damages.By drawing on the experience of countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom in this field,and at the same time fully taking into account China’s economy,culture and the current situation of patent protection,the paper puts forward its own suggestions on the punitive damages system for patent infringement in China,with a view to further improving the punitive damages system,so that it can solve the problem of difficult application in China’s judicial practice and meet the needs of judicial practice.