美國專利訴訟在聯邦民事訴訟中之特殊課題探討：以陪審團、特權、分階段審理與聽證為中心

Abstract

隨著國際化的浪潮，企業營運往往須以國際做為整體佈局。而美國無論在科技技術以及智慧財產權法制等方面，可說是領先世界潮流的先驅。因而對其專利訴訟制度之研究，不但對於企業有其實用的需要，在學術研究上，亦有相當價值。因美國之司法制度採取「判決拘束原則」（stare decisis），故本文之研究方法主要採取案例分析法（case study），藉由對各相關案例之案件事實（fact）、爭點（issue）、法院推理（reasoning）、乃至最後之判決結果（holding），進行分析與歸納，以得出較為一般性而可供參考的上位原則。此外，並藉由研讀相關學者之書籍與論文等次級資料，從學術的角度出發，對現行美國專利訴訟制度與若干重要法院判決，提出評釋或建議，以探討理論與實務間之差距。

本文所探討者，僅限於美國專利訴訟在程序方面之議題。一般性之程序議題，包含：當事人適格（standing）、管轄權（對物管轄權（subject matter jurisdiction）、對人管轄權（personal jurisdiction））、最適法院（venue）、送達（service）、被告之答辯（answer）與相關回應（積極抗辯（affirmative defense）、反訴（counter-claim）、聲請（motion））、發現程序（discovery）之各種方法與限制、案件上訴之原則與各種例外等。而特殊之程序議題，亦即本文之重點，則包括：陪審團（jury）、律師-委託人特權（attorney-client privilege）與工作成果豁免權（work product doctrine/immunity）、分階段審理（separate trial）以及聽證（hearing）等四方面，文中將分析探討該等制度或原則適用於專利訴訟時，曾產生之爭議，並歸納出若干仍待釐清之疑慮。

藉由提起專利訴訟案件，以維護專利權人合法權益，或甚至將其當作擴展企業商業競爭版圖的策略性武器或行銷手段，已不再只是偶一出現的茶餘飯後話題，而已儼然成為重要的營運策略與商業活動之一。無論是否贊同此種興訟的作法，我們皆已無法忽視激增的專利訴訟，其背後所引發的意涵以及對企業造成之影響。在本文之結論中，由專利訴訟之特性為出發點，分別針對其所具有之「科技屬性」、「技術與法律結合屬性」以及「案件複雜性與爭點處置性屬性」等特質，闡釋專利訴訟各特性之內涵，進而在陪審團、律師-委託人特權及工作成果豁免權、分階段審理、聽證等方面，基於此等特性，而推導出專利訴訟應適用某些與一般聯邦民事訴訟相同、不同或特有之程序的結果。

As the tide of internationalization arises, enterprises have no choice but to operate internationally. There is no doubt that the U.S. is the pioneer in the world no matter in the aspect of the technologies or of the intellectual property laws. As a result, it is valuable for both the industry and the academia to research the U.S. patent litigation. Since stare decisis governs the U.S. judicial system, the author mainly uses the case study method throughout the thesis, i.e. to analyze the facts, the issues, the reasoning, and the holding of each case and then tries to induce the general rules. Besides, the author also discusses the differences between the theory and the practice in some legal issues with the aid of scholars’ criticisms or suggestions.

What the author desires to research in this thesis is limited to the procedural matters in the U.S. patent litigation. The general topics consist of standing, jurisdiction (subject matter jurisdiction and personal jurisdiction), venue, service, answer and other responses (affirmative defense, counter-claim and motion), the methods and the limits of the discovery process, as well as the general rules and the exceptions of the appellate procedure. As for the specific topics, which are the main points of the thesis, the related issues regarding jury, attorney-client privilege and work product doctrine/ immunity, separate trial, and hearing are included. While applying the mechanisms or principles in aforementioned four special topics to the patent litigation, several disputes or issues occurred. The material disputes which had ever arisen would be analyzed, and the issues which are still open would be summarized.

Nowadays, to file lawsuits is not only to fight for the patentees’ legitimate rights, but also becomes one of the important strategies or commercial activities. Moreover, it may be used as a weapon to expand the market share or a tool for marketing as well. No matter agreeing with this practice or not, one can not overlook the meaning of the increasing amount of patent litigation and its effect on enterprises. In the conclusion of this thesis, the author first interprets the nature of the patent litigation, including its involvement with technology, the combination of the technology and the law, the complexity of the cases, and the heavy interconnection among the issues. Then the conclusion can be made accordingly to explain why we should use the same mechanisms in the patent litigation as in the general civil procedure, or use different ones, or have unique designs.