美国基因专利权利用尽原则的适用与启示

The Application and Illumination of Exhaustion Principle of Gene Patent in the U.S.A

专利用尽原则是专利法中的一项基本原则,旨在限制专利权人过度干涉专利产品的售后使用。随着转基因种子等具有自体复制功能的技术或产品的出现与应用,专利技术的使用行为与专利产品的制造行为较难分辨,专利权用尽原则在这一领域的适用变得更为复杂。通过梳理专利权用尽原则在美国司法判例中的应用与发展,并就专利权用尽原则在转基因专利种子领域的应用展开讨论,以期对我国相关问题有所启示。

Patent exhaustion is a fundamental doctrine of patent law, which limits a patentee＇s right to interfere unduly the use of the patented articles sold. With the application and development of the self-replicating technology or production such as engineered seeds, it is more difficult to distinguish between the ＂use ＂ of patented invention and the ＂making＂ of patented invention, and more complicated to apply patent exhaustion principles in this area. This paper reviews the development of patent exhaustion in U.S. judicial precedent, discusses the application of patent exhaustion in genetically engineered seeds, and gets inspiration from these discussion to resolve related problems in China.