跨境知识产权侵权纠纷的域外法律适用

Extraterritorial Application of Laws in Cross-Border Intellectual Property Infringement Disputes

各国在处理跨境知识产权侵权纠纷的域外法律适用问题时主要采取两种模式,即单向域外适用模式与双向域外适用模式。前者更多地是将知识产权视为一种政策性的特权,在处理域外侵权行为时往往不会发生外国的知识产权法被本国法院所适用的情况,但会出现本国知识产权法适用于发生在域外行为的情形;后者更多地是将知识产权视为一种民事权利,对于发生在域外的行为,本国法院既可能适用本国知识产权法律,也可能适用外国知识产权法律,是否发生外国法律的适用取决于一国立法对较为中立的连接点的界定。我国在立法上采取了以“被请求保护地”为连接点的双向域外适用模式,但是在司法实践中往往并不进行法律选择而是径行适用中国知识产权法律。这将导致在司法上采取了将中国知识产权法律适用于域外行为的单向域外适用模式。我国应在跨境知识产权侵权纠纷的域外法律适用问题上回归双向域外适用模式,并在具体纠纷裁判中丰富和明确“被请求保护地”的含义,同时设置“无所不在”侵权行为的特殊法律适用规则,限制当事人共同选择适用法的范围以及确定公共秩序在准据法选择中的适用,以实现维护本国利益的目的。

There are primarily two models among various countries when dealing with the issue of extraterritorial application of laws in cross-border intellectual property(IP)infringement disputes,namely unilateral and bilateral models.The former regards intellectual property rights more as a policy-based privilege.It often results in the non-application of foreign IP laws by domestic courts,but instances where domestic IP laws are applied to acts occurring outside the jurisdiction do occur.The latter considers intellectual property rights more as a general civil right.Domestic courts under this model may apply either domestic or foreign IP laws to extraterritorial acts,on the basis of the legislative definition of a relatively neutral connection point.Under the Chinese law,a bilateral extraterritorial application model is adopted,with the"lex loci protectionis"as the connecting point.However,in judicial practice,Chinese IP laws are often applied without the choice of law.This results in the judicial adoption of a unilateral extraterritorial application model,where Chinese IP laws are applied to extraterritorial acts.In light of this,this article advocates for a return to the bilateral extraterritorial application model in addressing the issue on cross-border IP infringement disputes,and the meaning of"lex loci protectionis"should be enriched and clarified in specific disputes,while setting up special legal application rules for"ubiquitous"infringement,limiting the scope of the parties'joint choice of applicable law,and determining the application of public order in the selection of applicable law to achieve the purpose of safeguarding national interests.