美国专利客体制度发展历程的回顾与疏解

On Reviewing and Clarifying the Development of Patent Object System in the United States

美国专利客体制度的发展历程是美国专利制度所保护客体范畴不断扩张的进程。在专利客体类型的基本形成阶段中,美国《专利法》以最初保护的发明专利为基础,相继增加了外观设计专利和植物品种专利两种客体类型;在专利客体类型的持续扩张阶段,美国判例法积极应对科技革命与产业革新的挑战,通过司法判例相继将基因技术和商业方法纳入专利客体保护范畴。针对不同专利客体类型的不同特征,美国专利制度在保护要件上则进行了差异化的立法选择。

The development of patent object system in the United Satates is the process of expanding scope of protected objects in the US patent system. In the basic forming stage of patent object types, patent for invention was the main kind of patent object in the US Patent Law, and patent for design and patent for plant variety were added in the scope of protected objects one after another. In the continuous expanding stage of patent object types, faced with the challenges of technological revolution and industrial innovation, the United States case law brought gene technology and business method into patent object protection in succession. Additionally, based on the different characteristics of different patent objects, the United States has made differential legislative choices in terms of protection.