专利侵权惩罚性赔偿的司法适用研究
Research on the Judicial Application of Punitive Compensation for Patent Infringement

2020年10月，我国新《专利法》引入惩罚性赔偿制度，旨在强化知识产权保护、提高侵权成本。然而，该制度的有效实施取决于司法适用情况。本文通过案例分析和文献研究，探讨了专利侵权惩罚性赔偿的司法适用问题。适用该赔偿需满足“故意”和“情节严重”两个要件，其中“故意”包含直接和间接故意，且行为人必须明知侵权风险；“情节严重”则由法官根据侵权时间、规模等后果自由裁量。在计算惩罚性赔偿数额时，应转变传统思维，部分损失或获利也可作为基数，并鼓励采用多种方法计算许可费，同时利用证据披露制度确保赔偿数额准确合理。为防范过度应用带来的不良后果，本文建议严格界定适用条件，考虑侵权人对专利的改进贡献和权利人是否存在权利滥用，并可借鉴美国的做法引入惩罚性赔偿金分割机制，以遏制投机行为。
In October 2020, China’s newly revised Patent Law introduced a punitive compensation system, aiming to strengthen intellectual property protection and increase the cost of infringement. However, the effective implementation of this system hinges on its judicial application. This article explores the judicial application of punitive compensation for patent infringement through case analysis and literature research. The application of such compensation requires meeting two criteria: “deliberate intent” and “serious circumstances”. “Deliberate intent” encompasses both direct and indirect intent, and the perpetrator must knowingly take risk of infringement; “serious circumstances” are left to the judge’s discretion based on factors such as the duration and scale of the infringement. In calculating the amount of punitive compensation, traditional thinking should be changed so that part of the loss or profit can also be used as a base, and multiple methods of calculating the license fee should be encouraged, as well as the use of the evidence disclosure system to ensure that the amount of compensation is accurate and reasonable. To prevent the negative consequences of excessive application, this article suggests strictly defining the conditions for application, considering the contribution of the infringer to the improvement of the patent and whether the rightsholder has abused its rights, and may borrow from the US practice to introduce a mechanism for dividing punitive damages, to curb speculative behavior.