專利產品設計方法與策略整合之研究

Abstract

本文提出一系統化之產品設計方法，藉由專利資訊的建立、設計方法論的整合、專利侵害判斷之運用與迴避設計技巧之實施，使產品開發之效率提高，同時降低專利糾紛之可能性及增加產品之可專利性。本文首先探討專利資訊管理及其重要性，並說明如何運用適當的專利策略與專利侵害判斷技巧，解決研發之阻礙及可能之專利糾紛。接下來對(1)顧客需求對產品功能設計之影響，以及(2)產品創新觀念、方法與技巧有進一步的說明，並研究比較各創新方法之間的關聯性。由於產品在其發展過程中，顧客之需求、相關可取得之研發資料，與產品競爭力會隨之改變，因此，本文更針對產品在生命週期中不同階段的特性，探討研發人員所需採取的適當研發方法，同時以自行車內變速器為例，說明如何結合各個創新方法之特點、專利資訊之分析，及專利侵害判斷方法，並將其用於產品開發及判斷研發成果是否會落入既有專利權利範圍。最後，結合專利侵害判斷技巧、專利資訊收集與分析，以及創新方法，發展一完整之專利迴避設計流程、實施步驟與方針，並探討專利迴避設計與其創新方法之間的關係，同時以自行車飛輪設計為例，說明迴避設計所使用的方法。因此，本文所建立的以專利為中心之系統化創新方法流程，將有助於研發技術，並能快速開發具有競爭力的產品，同時降低或避免侵害他人專利。

This study proposes a systematic product design method by integrating patent information, the conventional design methodologies, the rules of patent infringement judgement, and methods of patent design around. This product design method can assist enterprises to enhance the efficiency of product development, lower the possibility of patent infringements, and increase the patentability of results of innovation. The management of patent information and its importance are firstly presented to understand which information can be obtained from the patent database and how to apply them into the product design. Patent strategy and rules of patent infringement judgement are then proposed to solve the innovation barriers and possible patent disputes. In addition, the influences of customer requirements on the function design of products, the fundamental concepts, methods, and skills of product innovation as well as relationships between innovation methods are introduced. Since customer requirements, obtainable relevant information for the R&D personnel, characteristics of markets, and competitiveness of products will be changed in the progress of product, appropriate design methods should be adopted according to the characteristics of stages in the product life cycle. Design of a multi-speed hub for bicycles is then employed as an example to depict how to incorporate the characteristics of each innovation methods and analysis of patent information into design process. This example is also used to interpret how to use the rules of patent infringement judgement to judging whether the results of innovation will fall into the existing patents. Finally, this study integrates the rules of patent infringement judgement, collection and analysis of patent information, and the application of innovation methods to develop the flowchart, implementing steps and approaches of patent design around. The relationships between methods of patent design around and other conventional design methodologies are further presented. Design of multi-speed sprockets for bicycles is used as an example to illustrate the application of patent design around. The systematic product design method and flowchart established in this study based on patent information can facilitate technology followers to develop competitive products in a short time while avoiding infringing others’ patents.