美國與台灣有關專利進步性判斷標準之研究

The Study Related to the Judgement Standards of the Inventive Step of Patents in the United States and Taiwan

在專利審查與專利審判中，進步性（非顯而易見性）之判斷經常出現爭議卻又缺乏客觀化與普遍化之適用標準，所以關於進步性之判斷標準向來為專利實務界與司法實務界所關注之議題，因此專利實務界與司法實務界不斷謀求明確且合宜之標準以適用於判斷系爭請求項是否具有進步性。美國的判例法對於進步性之判斷標準的法律見解歷經數次變動，而美國專利商標局乃配合該等法律見解修正其公布的「專利審查程序手冊」之內容；此外，台灣的司法實務界與智慧財產局對於進步性之判斷標準經常會參考美國的判例法及美國專利商標局修正公布的「專利審查程序手冊」建立的法律原則。因此本文將就美國有關進步性之判斷標準的重要案例及相關規定加以分析與說明，並就台灣有關進步性之判斷標準的重要案例及相關規定加以分析與說明，再就美國與台灣有關進步性之判斷標準進行充分地比較與深入地分析，以便就有關進步性之判斷標準歸納整理出較為清晰且適當的法律原則，以供台灣的司法實務界與智慧財產局在審理有關進步性之爭議案件時參考。

In the patent examination and patent trial, the judgement of theinventive step (nonobviousness) of patents often appears controversies,but the judgement of the inventive step of patents lacks the applicablestandards for objectification and universalization, so the judgementstandards of the inventive step of patents are always the concernedissues to the patent practitioners and judicial practitioners. Therefore,the patent practitioners and judicial practitioners constantly seek clearand appropriate standards in order to apple to judge whether thedisputed claims have the inventive step of patents.The U.S. case laws related to the legal opinions about thejudgement standards of the inventive step of patents have changedseveral times, and the United States Patent and Trademark Officemodifies the content of the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure inorder to match such legal opinions; moreover, Taiwan’s judicialpractitioners and the Intellectual Property Office deciding the judgement standards of the inventive step of patents usually refer to the legalprinciples from the U.S. case laws and the Manual of Patent ExaminingProcedure modified and published by the United States Patent andTrademark Office.Consequently, above all, this article will analyze and explain theimportant cases and relative provisions related to the judgementstandards of the inventive step of patents in the United States; thisarticle will analyze and explain the important cases and relativeprovisions related to the judgement standards of the inventive step ofpatents in Taiwan; then, this article will fully compare and deeplyanalyze the judgement standards of the inventive step of patents in theUnited States and Taiwan, so as to summarize and organize relativelyclear and appropriate legal principles related to the judgement standardsof the inventive step of patents, so that when the Taiwan’s judicialpractitioners and the Intellectual Property Office try the disputed casesrelated to the inventive step of patents, such legal principles can bereferred.