恶意知识产权诉讼威胁立法规制之最简方案——评英国《知识产权(恶意威胁)法》

A Minimalist Legislative Approach to Countering Unjusti? ed IP Threats——Review of the UK Intellectual Property(Unjusti? ed Threats) Act

警告函、律师函等形式的知识产权侵权警告是一种权利维护机制,但中外司法实践中已出现多起权利人通过寄送警告函或律师函,恶意向涉嫌侵权人或其交易相对方发出诉讼威胁的案例。此举不仅妨碍了创新,也损害了交易安全。立法上的不足,是导致涉嫌侵权人及其交易相对方面临恶意诉讼威胁时无力还击的制度原因。在各国应对这一困境的立法中,英国独树一帜,于2017年4月颁布了《知识产权(恶意威胁)法》,就知识产权诉讼威胁的认定标准、可起诉性、抗辩事由和恶意诉讼威胁的救济措施等问题,进行了统一规定。该法规制恶意知识产权诉讼威胁的创新举措非常值得包括我国在内的各国借鉴。

Intellectual property infringement warning as in letters of warning or lawyer’s letters is a mechanism to safeguard lawful rights. But many countries throughout the world have frequently witnessed cases where intellectual property right holders willfully send unjustified threats to potential tortfeasors and their trading counterparties via letters of warning or lawyer’s letters. This has on the one hand hampered innovation and on the other hand jeopardized security in transactions. The lack of legislation is the institutional reason for the inability of the potential tortfeasors and their trading counterparties to face the unjustified threats. Among the efforts to counter unjustified threats, the United Kingdom has developed a unique approach by promulgating a law called Intellectual Property (Unjustifi ed Threats) Act in April, 2017. This act lays down uniform rules for regulating intellectual property threats by defi ning key concepts like “threat of infringement proceedings”,“actionable threats”, defenses and remedies. This innovative approach to tackle unjustifi ed threats deserves attention from other countries like China who face similar trouble.