I. Patent infringement

Patent infringement refers to the act of exploiting a patent or counterfeiting another's patent without the permission of the patentee. For patent infringement, the patentee may request the patent management authority to handle it, or directly bring a lawsuit to the court, asking the infringer to stop the infringement and compensate for the losses. In the event of an infringement dispute, if the invention patent is a product manufacturing method, the unit or individual that manufactures the same product shall provide proof of its manufacturing method. According to the laws of our country, any of the following circumstances shall not be regarded as infringement: (1) After the patented product manufactured by the patentee or licensed by the patentee is sold, the patentee uses or sells the product. (2) Using or selling a patented product that the patentee knows is manufactured or sold without the permission of the patentee; (3) Having manufactured the same product, used the same method or made necessary preparations for its manufacture and use before the patent application date, and continuing to manufacture and use it only within the original scope; (4) According to the agreement signed between the country to which it belongs and China or the international conventions to which it is a party, or according to the principle of reciprocity, foreign means of transport passing through the territory, territorial sea and airspace of China temporarily use the relevant patents in their devices and equipment for their own needs; (5) using the relevant patents exclusively for scientific research and experiments.

What is patent infringement? What legal responsibility should I bear for infringing others' patent rights?

Second, what is the liability for patent infringement?

Patent infringement is very common. Infringement of patent right refers to infringement of the patent legally owned by the patentee through counterfeiting, unauthorized sales, etc. What legal responsibilities should patent infringement bear? According to relevant laws, the legal liabilities of patent infringers include civil liability, administrative liability and criminal liability.

administrative responsibility

For patent infringement, the administrative department for patent affairs has the right to order the infringer to stop the infringement, order it to correct, and impose a fine. The administrative department for patent affairs may also mediate the amount of compensation for patent infringement at the request of the parties concerned.

(2) Civil liability

(1) Stop the infringement means that the patent infringer immediately stops the ongoing patent infringement according to the decision of the department in charge of patent work or the judgment of the people's court.

(2) Compensation for losses. The amount of compensation for patent infringement shall be determined according to the losses suffered by the patentee or the interests gained by the infringer; If it is difficult to determine the losses suffered by the infringer or the benefits obtained by the infringer, it can be reasonably determined by referring to the multiple of the patent license fee.

(3) eliminate the impact. When the infringing act of the infringer causes damage to the goodwill of the patented product in the market, the infringer should take appropriate measures to bear the legal responsibility of eliminating the influence and admit his own infringing act in order to eliminate the adverse influence on the patented product.

(3) Criminal responsibility

In accordance with the provisions of the Patent Law and the Criminal Law, if the circumstances are serious, the person directly responsible shall be investigated for criminal responsibility.

Third, the method of obtaining evidence of patent infringement.

It is particularly important for the obligee to choose the most favorable and feasible method of obtaining evidence according to the specific circumstances of the case. The main methods are as follows:

1, collect evidence by himself and entrust a lawyer to investigate and collect evidence.

2. Apply to the notary office for evidence preservation.

One of the statutory businesses of the notary office is to "preserve evidence". Notarized evidence has the effect of being presumed to be true. Article 59 of the Civil Procedure Law stipulates: "The people's court shall confirm the validity of notarized legal acts, legal facts and documents, unless there is evidence to the contrary that can overturn notarized evidence." The effect of preservation of evidence by notary organs is the same as that of preservation of evidence by courts ex officio. Before litigation, the parties may

3. Apply to the court for evidence preservation before litigation.

4. Apply to the people's court for evidence.

Article 64 of China's Civil Procedure Law stipulates that the people's court shall investigate and collect evidence that the parties and their agents cannot obtain on their own due to objective reasons, or evidence that the people's court considers necessary for hearing a case. Based on this, when the parties file patent infringement, trademark infringement and copyright infringement lawsuits, they often apply for evidence, and the evidence obtained is usually divided into three categories:

(1) Preserve the alleged infringing products;

(two) to investigate the financial books of the alleged infringement unit to determine the amount of compensation;

(3) Obtaining the evidence of the alleged infringer's infringement. According to the provisions of the Civil Procedure Law and the judicial interpretation of the Supreme Court, there are two ways for the court to investigate and collect evidence: one is to take the initiative to investigate and collect evidence according to its authority. The court shall actively investigate and collect evidence according to its functions and powers, involving facts and related procedural matters that may harm the national interests, social public interests or the legitimate rights and interests of others. There is no need for the parties to apply for evidence. Second, evidence collection is based on the application of the parties. After the scope of the court's initiative to obtain evidence is narrowed, it is becoming more and more important for the parties to apply for evidence investigation. If no party applies for evidence investigation in time, the court will generally not take the initiative to investigate the evidence. After the parties apply for evidence investigation, whether the court starts the investigation and evidence collection mechanism depends on the court's review and judgment. Only when the application submitted by the parties meets the scope of evidence collection by the court, the court has the obligation to investigate and collect evidence, otherwise the court shall reject the application. The parties should pay attention to two points when applying for court investigation and evidence collection: first, the scope of evidence applied for investigation must conform to the legal situation; Second, this application must pay attention to the time limit for proof.

5. Apply to the administrative organ for investigation and evidence collection.

The fifth chapter of China's Patent Administrative Law Enforcement Measures has a special chapter on investigation and evidence collection. In the process of investigating a case, the department in charge of patent work may, according to its functions and powers, investigate and collect relevant evidence, and may consult and copy contracts, account books and other relevant documents related to the case. Questioning the parties and witnesses; On-site inspection shall be carried out by means of measurement, photography and video recording. Where the patent right of a manufacturing method is suspected of being infringed, the department in charge of patent work may require the respondent to give a live demonstration. Where a product patent is involved, samples may be taken from the products suspected of infringement.

No matter which method is used to collect evidence, objectivity is the premise, and only objective and true evidence has probative power. Do not tamper with or forge evidence, or you will bear legal responsibility.