Restructuring patent prosecution process as a tool of implementing competition policy-from a fundamental point of view

本研究的主要目的是了解是否可以重构几乎由专利商标局（PTO）执行的专利审查过程（包括专利申请、审查、异议和委员会审判），使其成为实施最佳竞争政策的有用工具。结论总结如下：1)对于“理论上PTO是否可能从竞争政策的角度来估计专利申请发明的影响？”的答案是肯定的，这意味着，大多数情况下，“是”。虽然要评估专利申请过程中应用发明在市场上的竞争效果，我们应该制定新的法规，而不能因实施《专利法》第2条的制度而承受巨大的行政成本，但“是否可以通过限制“专利权”下保护专利发明的活动范围（如“制造”、“使用”、“销售”等）来理论上调整专利权的“独占性”？”这个问题的答案尚未明确。正如美国一些学者提出的那样，改变专利权对各自发明的排除范围将是一个划时代的想法，但这项研究也表明，与此同时将会有许多有待解决的问题。3)对问题3)“如果我们可以将上述两种假设的“想法”引入专利申请过程，我们会预期产生怎样的效果？”的回答是；在技术创新日新月异的今天，专利商标局很难从竞争政策的角度准确地估计专利申请发明的市场效应，因此，从竞争政策的角度估计市场效应的思想需要进行大量的研究，特别是需要对成本与收益之间的平衡进行研究。

The main purpose of this research project is to get some insight about if we could reconstruct patent prosecution process (which consists of patent application, examination, objection and board trial), almost conducted by Patent & Trademark Office (PTO),as a useful tool of implementing best competition policy. The summary of conclusion is below; 1) the answer to “Is it theoretically possible for PTO to estimate the effect of patent-applied invention from the point of competition policy? ” would be positive, that means, mostly, “Yes”. Though, to estimate competitive effect in the market of applied inventions in patent prosecution process, we should make new enactment about that and could not suffer from huge administrative cost to implement the system in PTO.2) the answer to ”Could the ”exclusivity” of patent right be theoretically adjusted by limiting the scope of activities protecting patented invention under the “patent right”(such as “make “,”use”, ”sell”, etc)?” is not definitive yet.To vary the scope of exclusion by the patent right from respective inventions would be an epoch-making idea as some scholarship in U.S. suggest, though, this research has made clear that much problems to be solved would be accompanied at the same time. 3) the answer to question 3)”If we could introduce above two hypothetical “ideas” into patent prosecution process, how effects could we expect?” is; today, technological innovation going on so fast, it seems very difficult for the PTO to currently estimate precisely the effect of patent-applied invention from the point of competition policy, so, there need tobe much study to implement the idea of estimating the market effect from the point of competition policy, particularly, much study about balancing between cost and benefit to institute the above idea.