The patent system promotes national industrial development by protecting and encouraging inventions, and promotes research and development by granting exclusive rights for a certain period of time. The patent application specification examines the novelty and inventive step of an invention to verify its originality, and plays an important role in promoting technical cooperation and trade in international trade.
The patent system is a system that promotes the development of national industries by protecting and encouraging inventions, and grants patent rights to patent applicants that guarantee them exclusive rights to the invention for a certain period of time. In order to receive patent rights for an invention, the applicant must meet certain requirements, and the document that is examined is the patent application specification.
The patent application specification is the part of the patent application that clarifies what the patent applicant wants to be protected by the patent, i.e., the scope of the rights. This section consists of one or more claims that describe the methods, features, structures, and bonding relationships necessary to describe the invention, such as the following examples
[Claim 1] A chair comprising metal, plastic, or both
[claim 2] The chair of claim 1, wherein the metal is iron
[claim 3] the chair of claim 2, comprising wood
In the above example, claim 1 is an independent claim that stands alone in the scope of the invention, while claims 2 and 3 are dependent claims that recite other claims. [Claim 2 limits some of the components of the invention recited in the other clauses, and claim 3 adds new features to the invention recited in the other clauses. Dependent claims are characterized by a narrower scope of protection than independent claims because they can recite other dependent claims as well as independent claims, and they present components of the invention, such as various technical features and limitations.
One of the important elements of writing a patent application specification is a clear description of the invention. The specification should detail the background of the invention, its purpose, the problem it solves, and a specific method of implementation. The detailed description of the invention plays an important role in the interpretation of the patent claims and is essential to clarify the scope of the patentee’s rights. Therefore, it is very important to understand and accurately represent the invention when writing the application specification.
The claims are also the basis for comparing the invention for patent examination to known prior inventions to determine novelty and inventive step, which are requirements for patentability. When these requirements are examined by comparing the contents of the invention described in the patent claims to the prior art, novelty is to determine whether the invention is identical to the prior art, and inventive step is to determine whether the invention can be easily invented from the prior art.
In order for novelty to be recognized, not only physical identity, which means that the components of the invention are included in the components of the prior invention and completely match, but also substantial identity, which means that the invention is similar to the prior invention in terms of effect, must be denied. Accordingly, if a component of the invention described in the patent claim is a higher-level concept and a component of the prior invention is a lower-level concept, it is considered to be identical and novelty is generally denied.
If the invention is found to be novel, the next step is to examine whether it is inventive. An invention is not recognized as inventive if it can be easily predicted or followed based on the prior invention at the level of knowledge of a person ordinarily skilled in the field. Therefore, if an invention simply substitutes a component of the prior invention or simply combines different elements of the prior invention, it cannot be patented because it does not have inventive step even if it has novelty.
A patentee is recognized as having the sole and exclusive right to the patented invention. Therefore, if a patent holder believes that an unauthorized person has infringed his patent rights, he can protect his rights through the patent system. Because patent rights are intangible and easy to imitate and steal, unlike ordinary objects, and because it is difficult to detect infringement, the patent system considers not only direct infringement, but also acts that anticipate future direct infringement as indirect infringement.
Direct infringement is the commercial practice of an invention that falls within the scope of a patented invention without the patent holder’s permission. In order to prove whether an ‘identified invention’ that is being judged for infringement of an existing patented invention infringes patent rights, the scope of the patentee’s rights must first be determined by checking and interpreting the scope of the patent claims of the existing patented invention. The principles that apply when interpreting the scope of a patentee’s rights include the principle of component completeness and the principle of equivalents.
The principle of component completeness states that the invention to be identified falls within the scope of the patentee’s rights only if it implements all the components listed in the patent claims of the existing patented invention. For example, if the patent claims of an existing patented invention include ｢X+Y｣, it is not infringing if the verified invention performs only ｢X｣ or ｢Y｣ or performs ｢X+Y′, but it is infringing if it performs ｢X+Y｣ or performs ｢X+Y+Z｣. However, there is a problem with this doctrine in that it does not recognize patent infringement if the identified invention retains the essential function of the existing patented invention, but only modifies or deletes secondary elements.
To compensate for this problem, the doctrine of equivalents is applied. According to this principle, if the identified invention is practiced as ｢X+Y′, even if it does not completely match the components of the existing patented invention, if the principle or effect of Y and Y′ is the same, Y and Y′ are considered equal, so the identified invention infringes the existing patented invention.
On the other hand, indirect infringement refers to acts that are not direct infringement but are expected to infringe patent rights if left unchecked, which can be categorized into two types: those for ‘inventions of articles’ and those for ‘inventions of methods’. If the original patented invention is an article, the commercialization of other elements necessary only for the production of that article constitutes indirect infringement. Accordingly, the sale of all the components of an article, rather than the patented finished product, constitutes indirect infringement because it enables the eventual assembly of the article and thus induces the practice of the patented invention. For the same reason, if an existing patented invention is a method, the commercial practice of an article that is used only to practice the method constitutes indirect infringement.
The importance of the patent system goes beyond just protecting inventions. By protecting inventions, it encourages research and development (R&D) activities and creates an environment where creative and innovative ideas are rewarded economically. This gives companies an incentive to continue investing in technological development, and for countries, it increases their technological competitiveness. In this sense, the patent system goes beyond protecting individual inventions and acts as a driver of national economic development.
The patent system also plays an important role in international trade. In the global marketplace, securing patent rights not only protects your invention in your country, but also abroad. This promotes international technological cooperation and trade, and contributes to reducing the technological gap between countries. For example, if an innovative technology developed in one country is protected by a patent, other countries are more likely to license or partner with it for use. This has the positive effect of promoting global technology diffusion and economic growth at the same time.
In conclusion, the patent system plays an important role in promoting national industrial development through the protection and promotion of inventions. Preparing a patent application specification and formulating patent claims is an essential process to clarify the scope of rights of an invention and secure patent rights. The patent system encourages technological advancement by verifying the originality of inventions through novelty and inventive step examinations and granting patent rights based on them. As such, the patent system is a key means of enhancing national competitiveness and requires continuous attention and improvement.
