How to Identify Product Appearance Patent Infringement

1. How to judge the product design patent infringement also has three steps: 1. Determine the scope of protection of the patent right of design. According to the second paragraph of Article 59 of the Patent Law, the scope of protection shall be based on the pictures or photographs of the patented product of design submitted by the patentee of design to the Patent Office when applying for a patent for design, including front view, top view and side view. Among them, the front view is the most important, because it can best reflect the beauty of design. When determining the protection scope of the patent right of design, we should also pay attention to finding out the elements that can reflect the aesthetic feeling of design from these views. 2. Determine whether the patented product of design and the infringing product belong to the same or similar goods. The identification method to judge China is usually based on the function and use of the product, and at the same time, it refers to the commodity classification in the International Classification of Designs (namely the Locarno Treaty). Where the patented product of design and the alleged infringing product are the same in function and use, they can be identified as the same or similar goods, and continue to compare the following 3. If they are different in function and use, we can conclude that they are neither the same goods nor similar goods, and then we can end our infringement judgment step and conclude that patent infringement is not established. 3. Compare the design patent with the alleged infringing product. That is to say, from the perspective of ordinary consumers, the design of patented products and the design of accused infringing products are observed and judged as a whole. After comparison, the following three results may appear: (1) The appearance design of the accused infringing product is exactly the same as this patent, so the former belongs to the scope of patent protection and the patent infringement is established. (2) The design of the accused infringing product is basically the same as the patent design in the main part, and the whole is similar. According to the principle of equivalence, patent infringement can be established. (3) If the design of the accused infringing product is neither the same nor similar to the design of the patent as a whole, it is deemed that the accused infringing product has not fallen into the protection scope of the patent right, and the patent infringement is not established. Second, the standard for judging the infringement of invention patents 1, and determine the scope of patent protection. According to Article 59 of China's Patent Law, the scope of protection of the invention patent right shall be subject to the content of its claim. Therefore, the patent claim is the only basis for the court to determine the scope of patent protection. According to the provisions of Article 21 of the Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Patent Law, patent claims shall have independent claims or subordinate claims. Therefore, the claims in the infringement judgment stipulated in the patent law of our country refer to independent claims, not subordinate claims. In order to facilitate comparison, courts usually decompose independent claims into several relatively independent necessary technical features. This requires an interpretation of the claims. Legal documents interpreting claims are considered as patent specifications and drawings. In addition, patent documents are also considered as important reference documents for interpreting claims. 2. Determine the corresponding technical characteristics of the alleged infringing products. That is, according to the necessary technical characteristics recorded in the claim, the technical characteristics of the accused infringing product are decomposed accordingly. 3. Make a one-to-one comparison between the necessary technical features recorded in the decomposition claim and the features of the accused infringing product to determine whether it is infringing. For different types of patents, in fact, when judging whether they constitute infringement, the main criteria are different. The above article introduces the criteria for judging the infringement of invention patents and design patents. If your patent is a utility model, you can also judge it by some standards in case of suspected infringement.