2021年5月1日 星期六

"Secondary Considerations"係指發明內容已被前案證實為輕易轉用或易於思及的結合的狀況下,例外給予進步性的考量因素.

這已經是我國法院反覆強調的見解了,如智慧財產法院108年度行專再字第3號判決:「是不論系爭專利於商業上之成功與否、或專利權人所提供如某發明具有無法預期之功效、解決長期存在的問題之進步性輔助性證明資料為何,仍應先為系爭專利與引證間之技術比較,倘已明顯而可認系爭專利不具進步性時,即無以進步性輔助判斷之必要(最高行政法院102年度判字第205 號109 年度判字第232 號判決意旨參照)」。

誠如作者Hsuan-Hung William Kuo說的,這個係發明內容已被前案證實為輕易轉用或易於思及的結合的狀況下,例外給予進步性的secondary considerations,國外判例都並不認為是輔助的或可以忽略的判斷因素,而是例外可以給予進步性的,尤其是在克服技術偏見或發現未曾預期的功效時。


法院見解感覺與國際趨勢背道而馳啊啊啊
108行專訴74
「倘已明顯而可認系爭專利不具進步性時,即無以進步性輔助判斷之必要(最高行政法院102 年度判字第205 號判決意旨參照)」
102判205
「專利之進步性判斷著重於技術層面之價值,至於商業上的成功僅為進步性之輔助判斷,不論系爭專利於商業上之成功與否或上訴人所提供之進步性輔助性證明資料為何,仍應先為系爭專利與引證間之技術比較,倘已明顯而可認系爭專利不具進步性時,即無以進步性輔助判斷之必要」
參照國外相關實務與見解
The Supreme Court and the Federal Circuit have determined that in
general patent disputes, secondary considerations can be given
significant weight as they “may often be the most probative and
cogent evidence in the record.” (Hoffman 2018) (Stratoflex, Inc. v. Aeroquip Corp., 713 F.2d 1530, 1538 (Fed. Cir. 1983)
Süd-Chemie is a significant case in that the Federal Circuit reconfirms that secondary considerations still must be
considered as part of an obviousness analysis, even though its consideration of such evidence may be heavily discounted
when a strong prima facie showing of obviousness has been made. (Macedo 2009) (Süd-Chemie, Inc. v Multisorb Technologies, Inc., 554 F.3d 1001, US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, 30
January 2009)
While KSR endorsed a flexible, common sense approach to the obviousness analysis, the opinion does not reveal an intention to skew the availability of secondary-considerations evidence in support of the nonobviousness of an invention. The KSR Court supported a return to the functional inquiry established in Graham, which included the use of secondary considerations evidence.
Federal Circuit precedent still requires district courts and the PTO to take secondary considerations into account. (Thomas 2011)
就上述提及的文獻與判決中可見,在完整的判斷裡,secondary consideration是必要的而非"次要"的,這個見解也見於陳宜誠律師
Vincent Chen
的文章

美國最高法院最新判例-Amarin-
Summary: This case presents an excellent vehicle to review the Federal Circuit’s longstanding erroneous pronouncements on the law of patentability, particularly how to treat objective indicia of nonobviousness. As Judge Newman eloquently explained in her dissent in the above-cited ZUP case, the Federal Circuit improperly relegates objective indicia to an afterthought, a rebuttal, or potential evidence that might overcome an already-formed conclusion of obviousness. This Court should review the decision below to ensure that Federal Circuit obviousness pronouncements follow, and do not conflict with, this Court’s holdings on objective indicia that give long-felt need controlling weight in the inquiry. 最高法院肯認Judge Newman在ZUP v Nash案裡面的不同意見(少數見解),secondary consideration不應該被"追認"而應該被一起評估才能導出最終是否具有進步性的結論

Hsuan-Hung在今天下午1:52傳送


「英國的實務直接把secondary consideration 列為 "Haberman Qeustions" Haberman v Jackal [1999] FSR 685,而且是決定"發明是否顯而易見"的步驟(不能跳過) 畢竟是不是顯而易見不是一句話就決定,你要把所有因素都考量完了才能判斷 ZUP v Nash (美國)案中的兩種見解也都認同需要考量 主流意見是說"ZUP公司所提出薄弱的輔助判斷因素證據也不足以推翻681專利具有顯而易見性之認定" Newman法官則認為不該在認定之後才考量secondary considerations 但是無論哪一種見解,CAFC法官們是都有對"二次要因"加以考量的