中國專利保護協(xié)會代表會員企業(yè)在國際發(fā)聲
日前，美國司法部、美國專利與商標局、美國國家標準與技術(shù)研究所等三部門就2021年FRAND政策聲明草案意見征集中，中國專利保護協(xié)會代表部分會員企業(yè)提交了評論。在美方已公開的167份評論中，這是唯一的中國聲音。
作為專利領(lǐng)域中國產(chǎn)業(yè)界的代表，中國專利保護協(xié)會一直以來持續(xù)關(guān)注國內(nèi)外知識產(chǎn)權(quán)政策變動，收集并完善中國創(chuàng)新主體的寶貴意見建議，將中國創(chuàng)新主體的聲音傳遞到國內(nèi)、國際有關(guān)部門，切實發(fā)揮“企業(yè)訴求的反映者”的作用。感謝會員企業(yè)對我們的信任，希望有更多的中國企業(yè)更主動地參與國際IP規(guī)則議定。
以下為此次意見反饋中我們向美方提交的評論原文。
RE: Draft Policy Statement on Licensing Negotiations and Remedies for Standards-Essential Patents Subject to Voluntary F/RAND Commitments
回復：關(guān)于受自愿F/RAND承諾約束的標準基本專利許可談判和救濟措施的政策聲明草案
Dear Attorney General Garland and Assistant Attorney General Kanter:
尊敬的總檢察長加蘭和助理總檢察長坎特：
Founded in October, 2003. Patent Protection Association of China (PPAC for short) is a nation-wide, professional and non-Profit organization registered in the People’s Republic of China. With more than 400 corporate members, PPAC is committed to becoming a representative of corporate demands, a facilitator of intellectual property rights, and a promoter of innovation. PPAC also has communicates and cooperates with relevant overseas institutions and organizations to promote international exchanges and cooperation. The members of PPAC includes patent owners, as well as potential licensees for standards-essential patents (SEP).
中國專利保護協(xié)會是在中華人民共和國注冊的全國性、專業(yè)性、非營利性社會團體，于2003年10月在北京成立。協(xié)會現(xiàn)有企業(yè)會員400余家，致力于成為企業(yè)訴求的反映者、知識產(chǎn)權(quán)的宣傳者以及創(chuàng)新的推動者。協(xié)會積極開展與境外相關(guān)機構(gòu)團體的友好往來，促進國際交流與合作。協(xié)會的會員包括標準必要專利的專利權(quán)人，也包括標準必要專利的潛在被許可人。
In regard to the Draft Policy Statement on Licensing Negotiations and Remedies for Standards-Essential Patents Subject to Voluntary F/RAND Commitments issued on December 6. 2021 (hereinafter referred to as the 2021 Draft Policy Statement) by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in collaboration with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), PPAC would like to make some comments as follows for reference on behalf of some of our corporate members.
針對司法部（DOJ）、美國專利商標局（USPTO）和國家標準與技術(shù)研究所（NIST）于2021年12月6日發(fā)布的《受自愿FRAND承諾約束的標準基本專利許可談判和救濟措施的政策聲明草案》（以下簡稱2021年政策聲明草案），我們代表部分會員企業(yè)反饋如下意見供參考。
The patent system promotes innovation and economic growth by providing incentives to inventors to apply their knowledge, undertake risks, and make continuous investments in research and development. Reliable, predictable, high-quality patent rights provide owners and the public confidence in the patent system, and promote vigorous, dynamic competition to the benefit of consumers. The 2021 Draft Policy Statement fully embodies the purpose stemming from the patent system with regard to innovation stimulation, competition promotion and benefits accomplishment, reflects a sincere effort to achieve a reasonable balance, and maintains the same effect against excessive use of SEP by patent holders and reverse holdup by potential licensees. In comparISOn, the Policy Statement on Remedies for Standards-Essential Patents Subject to Voluntary F/RAND Commitments issued on December 19. 2019 (hereinafter referred to as the 2019 Policy Statement) gave excessive concerns over reverse holdup at a low royalty rate by potential implementers, and unilaterally focused on that injunctive relief is also optional for SEP, aggravating the holdup of potential licensees at vulnerable positions. We believe that the 2021 Draft Policy Statement will reach a more reasonable balance between patent holders and implementers than the 2019 policy statement. Of particular concern, the 2021 Draft Policy Statement proposes considerations and procedural rules for relief for SEP subjected to F/RAND commitments, and recommends a procedural framework for a good-faith negotiation between a patent holder and a potential implementer. We believe that the 2019 policy statement should be revised. We welcome the 2021 Draft Policy Statement.
專利制度旨在激勵發(fā)明人應用其知識、承擔風險、持續(xù)投資來推動創(chuàng)新和經(jīng)濟增長，可靠的、可預測的、高質(zhì)量的專利權(quán)能塑造專利權(quán)人和社會公眾對專利制度的信心，推動充滿活力的創(chuàng)新，增加消費者的福祉。2021年政策聲明草案充分體現(xiàn)了專利制度激勵創(chuàng)新、促進競爭、增加福祉的宗旨，反映了為達成合理的平衡而做出的真誠努力，對專利持有人過度利用SEP和潛在被許可人反向?qū)＠俪直３至送瑯拥男Ч?。相比較來說，2019年12月19日發(fā)布的《關(guān)于受F/RAND承諾約束的標準基本專利救濟措施的政策聲明》（以下簡稱2019年政策聲明）過多地關(guān)注了潛在被許可人以低許可費率反向劫持，片面強調(diào)了禁令救濟對于SEP也是可選的，使得處于弱勢地位的潛在被許可人被劫持的情況加重。我們認為，2021年政策聲明草案相比于2019年政策聲明在專利持有人和實施者之間取得了更加合理的平衡。特別值得關(guān)注的是，2021年政策聲明草案提出了針對F/RAND承諾下SEP救濟的考量因素和程序規(guī)則，推薦了專利持有人和潛在實施人之間善意談判的程序框架。我們認為，2019年政策聲明應當被修訂。我們對2021年政策聲明草案表示歡迎。
The 2021 Draft Policy Statement is more rational to injunctive relief, with an emphasis that SEP holders will deviate from the original intent of their F/RAND commitments in case of an active seek for injunctive relief rather than engagement in good-faith licensing negotiations. Injunctive relief is indeed a key factor in licensing negotiations for SEP patents and is involved in most SEP negotiations. Patent holders may use the injunction as a weapon in their negotiations, who will implicitly or explicitly mention the injunction option when they try to impose an unreasonable proposal. Some patent holders may treat the injunctive relief as an ultimatum to implementers when negotiations fail out of expectation. Of course, the injunctive relief should also be discussed under the framework of antitrust law, which otherwise would impair competition and benefits of American innovators and the public. The 2021 Draft Policy Statement would be more helpful to facilitate negotiations if it could expose clearer information assisting patent holders and potential implementers in predicting whether their behavioral patterns conform to the rules of good-faith negotiations.
2021年政策聲明對禁令救濟的態(tài)度更加理性，強調(diào)如果SEP權(quán)利人積極尋求禁令救濟而不是開展善意許可談判，將會背離其FRAND承諾的初衷。禁令救濟確實是SEP專利許可談判中的一個重要因素，大部分關(guān)于SEP的談判中會有所涉及。專利持有人在談判中會以禁令為武器，當他們試圖強加一項不合理的提議時，他們會不時默示或明確地提及禁令選項。當談判未按預期進行時，部分專利持有人會將禁令救濟視為給實施者的最后通牒。當然，禁令救濟還應當在反壟斷法的框架下進行討論，否則有可能損害競爭、損害美國創(chuàng)新者和社會公眾的福祉。如果2021年政策聲明草案能給出更加明確的信息以幫助專利持有人和潛在實施者預判其行為模式是否符合誠信談判規(guī)則，將更有利于促進談判。
Good Faith appeared many times in the 2021 Draft Policy Statement, with the intention of guiding an SEP holder and a potential licensee to actively participate in good-faith licensing negotiations and calling for abandonment of opportunistic behaviors that harm the standards ecosystem. For the purpose of efficient SEP licensing negotiations, patent holders should fulfill their F/RAND commitments and provide a list of their license-related patents, including patent status, conditions about patent overlapped with other patent pools, patent-related litigation and IPR status, etc. The patent holders should also provide proof or basis showing that their patents are genuine SEP, as well as necessary supporting materials for royalty rate calculation.
2021年政策聲明中多次出現(xiàn)Good Faith，引導SEP權(quán)利人和潛在被許可人積極參與善意許可談判，呼吁放棄損害標準化生態(tài)的投機行為。為提升SEP談判效率，專利持有人應滿足其F/RAND承諾并提供其持有的與許可相關(guān)的專利清單，包括專利的有效狀態(tài)，與其他專利池重疊的專利情況，專利涉及的訴訟和IPR狀況等。專利持有人也應提供其專利為真實SEP的證明或者依據(jù)，以及計算費率的必要支持材料。
The 2021 Draft Policy Statement proposes operational guidelines for an SEP licensing negotiation, where contents of a warning letter issued by an SEP holder, a reply approach of a potential licensee, specific contents of the SEP right holder’s reply and other procedural rules have been stipulated. These guidelines could promote the good-faith F/RAND license negotiation. We suggest that: (a) a clarification should be made on the framework being recommended according to a specific negotiation situation; (b) a clarification or example should be made on the standards of the “good-faith negotiation” and the “F/RAND Counteroffer”; and (c) appropriate additions should be made with regard to Licensor’s obligations, e.g., providing a full list of patents to ensure that expired patents and patents overlapped with other patent pools are excluded or specified, and providing claim charts or analysis report of patents and relevant standards with regard to random sampling patents of no less than 50% of the patent families in the patent list issued by an independent third party, and disclosing the relevant F/RAND statements, F/RAND quotations, and comparable agreements that have been signed when these can be disclosed.
2021年政策聲明提出了SEP許可談判的操作指引。對SEP權(quán)利人發(fā)出的警告函的內(nèi)容、潛在被許可人的回復方式、SEP權(quán)利人再次答復的具體內(nèi)容等程序規(guī)則做了規(guī)定，這些指引能夠促進誠信F/RAND許可談判。我們建議：（a）明確該框架應根據(jù)談判具體情形推薦使用;（b）明晰“good-faith negotiation”以及“FRAND Counter offer”的標準；（c）適當增加Licensor的義務內(nèi)容，如提供完整的專利清單，確保排除或者明示已經(jīng)過期的專利、與其他專利池重復的專利，要求獨立第三方出具的專利清單中至少包括超過50%的專利族的隨機抽樣專利，并提供這些專利與相關(guān)標準的比對報告，披露相關(guān)F/RAND聲明、F/RAND報價以及已經(jīng)簽訂的可被公開的可比協(xié)議等。
The 2021 Draft Policy Statement newly adds comments on intellectual property policies from standard-setting organizations (SSOs), and emphasizes that the SSOs’ intellectual property policies are conducive to the sound development of the standards ecosystem. If the SSOs improve the transparency of SEP patents when formulating intellectual property policies, the expectation gap of patent holders and potential implementers could be shorten, the negotiation progress could be sped up and the negotiation costs can be reduced. From this point of view, the SSOs should be promoted to disclose more SEP information, but the 2021 Draft Policy Statement does not seem to play that role.
2021年政策聲明新增了關(guān)于標準化組織的知識產(chǎn)權(quán)政策的評論，強調(diào)標準化組織的知識產(chǎn)權(quán)政策有利于標準化生態(tài)的良好發(fā)展。標準化組織在制定知識產(chǎn)權(quán)政策時如果提高SEP專利的透明度，可以拉近專利持有人和潛在實施者的心理預期，加快談判進度，降低談判成本。從這個意義上講，應當促進標準化組織公開SEP信息，但是2021年政策聲明草案似乎并沒有起到這個作用。
The 2021 Draft Policy Statement discusses factual patterns designed to indicate when potential licensees are willing or unwilling to obtain F/RAND licenses. We recommend that the draft policy statement could be exhaustive on “willing” and “unwilling”, and further provide examples regarding what constitutes a “willing” situation or an “unwilling” situation. For example, if an SEP holder brings an infringement suit or a counter suit without any negotiation, this should be deemed as an “unwilling” situation. We recommend that the draft policy statement should be enumerative on “acts in bad faith” or give a case explanation thereto for clearer guidance.
2021年政策聲明討論了旨在表明潛在被許可人何時愿意或不愿意獲得F/RAND許可證的事實模式。我們建議政策聲明可以對“不愿意”和“不能”進行窮舉，進一步提供案例說明什么情況下構(gòu)成“愿意”或“不愿意”。例如，SEP持有人如未經(jīng)協(xié)商即提起侵權(quán)或反訴訟案件應視為“不愿意”。建議對“惡意行為”進行列舉或者案例解釋，以提供更加清晰的指導。
If resources or information are provided or developed by the U.S. government on a fair basis, it will help companies to get knowledge of the boundaries of F/RAND licensing, and to predict whether both parties’ behaviors meet the requirement of F/RAND good-faith negotiation, thereby conducive to improving negotiation efficiency. If in a desire to develop such resources or information platforms, attention should be paid to the comprehensiveness and accuracy of the information, as well as limitations and exemptions of confidentiality obligations.
如果在公平的基礎(chǔ)上，由美國政府提供和開發(fā)資源或者信息，有助于讓企業(yè)明確F/RAND許可界限，有助于讓參與者預測其行為是否F/RAND善意談判的要求,有助于提升談判效率。如果開發(fā)此類資源或者信息平臺，應當注意信息的全面性、準確性，以及保密義務的限制和豁免等因素。
The above comments do not represent the opinions of all PPAC members. The members of PPAC may also provide their own comments.
以上評論不代表協(xié)會全體會員的意見。協(xié)會會員也可能提供自己的觀點。
Patent Protection Association of China
中國專利保護協(xié)會
January 29. 2022
2022年1月29日
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