美國臨時專利申請案之申請特性及其與專利品質之相關性研究

Abstract

本論文之一目的在於藉由美國專利申請案資料庫（U.S. Patent Application Database），以分析在美國提出臨時專利申請案之申請特性。偏好率（preference ratio）、使用率（use ratio）及PA to NPA率（PA to NPA ratio）被用以評估申請人相對於非臨時專利申請案而提出臨時專利申請案的申請行為。鼓勵提出申請臨時專利申請案的因素包括：獲得較早申請日的可能性、較長的專利期限，以及較早的商業推廣機會。勸阻提出臨時專利申請案的因素包括：最終申請非臨時專利申請案的成本較高，以及外國申請人在美國提出專利申請案的額外要求。 這些因素將在本論文中討論，以解釋申請人相對於非臨時專利申請案而提出臨時專利申請案的申請行為。來自美國、以色列以及加拿大的申請人比其他國家的申請人更可能提出臨時專利申請案。本論文認為申請人的英語能力以及針對國外申請人的額外要求可能是這種結果的原因。藥品以及醫療領域的申請人比其他類別的申請人更可能提出臨時專利申請案。本論文認為獲得較早申請日以及較長專利期限的可能性可能是這種結果的原因。 本論文之另一目的在於採用美國專利商標局專利全文和影像資料庫（USPTO Patent Full-Text and Image Database, PatFT），以分析主張臨時專利申請案優先權之美國專利是否比不主張臨時專利申請案優先權之美國專利具有較佳之專利品質。多重的專利指標被用來分析，這些指標包括：審查時間、非專利參考文獻的數量、請求項的數量、向前引用次數、向後引用次數、專利家族的數量、專利家族提出申請國家的數量、維持率以及現行影響指數。 本論文研究發現，主張臨時專利申請案優先權之美國專利與不主張臨時專利申請案優先權之美國專利在下述多重專利指標變量具有統計學上顯著性差異：（1）向前引用次數、（2）向後引用次數、（3）非專利參考文獻的數量、（4）專利家族的數量、（5）專利家族提出申請國家的數量、（6）審查時間、（7）請求項的數量。本論文的研究結果並發現，主張臨時專利申請案優先權之美國專利比不主張臨時專利申請案優先權之美國專利具有較高的維持率及較佳的現行影響指數。 基於以上之發現，可知是否主張臨時專利申請案之優先權與專利之品質具高度正相關性，因此是否主張臨時專利申請案之優先權應可進一步獨立作為一個檢視專利品質的專利指標。

One object of this study is to use the US Patent Application Database to identify the characteristics of provisional applications in the United States. Preference ratios, use ratios, and provisional application to nonprovisional application ratios were used to evaluate the filing behavior of applicants in filing provisional applications with respect to nonprovisional applications. Factors encouraging filing provisional applications include the possibility to obtain an earlier filing date, a longer patent term, and an earlier promoting opportunity. Factors discouraging filing provisional applications include the eventual higher cost in filing nonprovisional applications and the additional requirements for foreign applicants to file patent applications in the United States. These factors are discussed in this paper to explain the filing behavior of applicants in filing provisional applications with respect to nonprovisional applications. Applicants from the United States, Israel, and Canada were more likely to file provisional applications than applicants from other countries. We propose that the English ability of the applicants and additional requirements for foreign applicants might be the cause of this result. Applicants in the category of Drugs and Medical were more likely to file provisional applications than applicants in other categories. We propose that the possibility for obtaining an earlier filing date and a longer patent term might be the cause of this result. Another object of this study is to use the USPTO Patent Full-Text and Image Database （PatFT） to determine whether or not that patents with claiming priorities from provisional applications have better patent performance than patents without claiming priorities from provisional applications. Multiple indicators are used to analyze the issue. These indicators include: the examination time, the number of non-patent references, the number of claims, the number of forward citations, the number of backward citations, the number of patent families, the number of filing countries of the patent families, the unmaintained rate, and the current impact index. It is found that there are statistically significant differences for the two types of patents in the following variables: (1) Number of forward citations, (2) Number of backward citations, (3) Number of non-patent references, (4) Number of patent families, (5) Number of filing countries of the patent families, (6) Number of claims, and (7) Examination time. It is also found that patents with claiming priorities form provisional applications have higher maintained rate and better current impact index than patents without claiming priorities form provisional applications. Accordingly, it is concluded that patents with claiming priorities form provisional applications have better patent performance than patents without claiming priorities form provisional applications. Therefore, whether or not that patents with claiming priorities from provisional applications could be developed into an independent indicator to valuate a patent’s value.