중국 특허 침해소송에서의 균등론

Doctrine of equivalents in Chinese patent infringement action - A review on practical point of view -

In this paper, the way that the doctrine of equivalents is applied to actions against infringement of patent in China, that is, legal bases of the application, the process of development in China and the concrete requirements is checked out. The principle of estoppels and the rule of donation as defensive measures of a defendant are studied. With regard to the legal bases, this paper considers not only several judicial interpretations that Supreme People’s Court of China has published since 2001 but also Guideline made by Beijing Higher People’s court in order to examine more thoroughly. Furthermore, a few particular cases, for instance, the application of the doctrine of equivalents to the means-plus function claim and if there is some different regulation between a higher and a lower courts, are closely analyzed. Regarding the principle of estoppels, the type of correction to which the principle of estoppels is applied, the method and meaning of abandonment and the burden of proof is studied.