浅议方法限定产品权利要求的保护范围

Discussion on the Protection Scope of the Product-by-Process Claim

专利可以被划分为产品专利和方法专利两种类型。对于产品专利的权利要求,除了可以通过形状、结构进行限定之外,还可以在特定情况下采用方法进行限定。针对这种特殊的限定形式的产品权利要求,方法的限定在确定权利要求保护范围时是否发挥作用存在争议。本文拟解读争议观点并提出解决方案。

Patent can be divided into two types: product patent and method patent. In addition to be defined by the shape and structure, the claim of the product patent can be defined by method in special cases. For this particular defined form of product claim, it is controversial that whether the definition of the method functions in determining the scope of the claim. In this paper, it is intended to interpret the controversial views and propose solutions.