論近期智慧財產權權利耗盡原則的實務發展

Abstract

智慧財產權給與權利人獨占市場行使權利的排他權，為了平衡智慧財產權權利人所擁有的權利與公眾利益，因此各國在給予智慧財產權時多半也會設計有一些限制，以防止權利人無限擴張其權利而造成公共利益上的失衡，智慧財產權的權利耗盡便是常見的限制之一。根據權利耗盡的範圍可以主張到哪裡又可以大致分為國際耗盡、國內耗盡與區域耗盡原則的不同概念，但是要採取哪種耗盡模式目前眾多國際協議裡尚未有統一的共識，各國可以依據自身的政經狀況來選擇智慧財產權的耗盡適用模式。因此在現今這個跨國界貿易交流十分頻繁與興盛的時代，認識各國對於不管是法律學說與實務上智慧財產權耗盡理論的選擇適用便非常重要，以防止在經濟活動中侵害了相關的智慧財產權權利而有民事上的損害賠償責任乃至於刑事上的責任。智慧財產權相關權利人也能藉由認識不同國家的耗盡規範對其智財權利在全球市場的佈局有更妥善的規劃。本文除了介紹基本的智慧財產權權利耗盡概念以及國際條約的相關規範，更挑選整理了近年台灣與其他幾個重要國家中對於智慧財產權權利耗盡的相關實務判決，希望除了幫助讀者認識近期國際上對於智財耗盡議題的相關討論與實務判決發展外，也提供台灣未來對於類似議題上的實務以及修法上的參考。

Intellectual property rights give right holders the exclusive right to exercise their rights in the market. In order to balance the rights owned by intellectual property right holders and the public interest, most countries also designed some restrictions on the intellectual property rights being granted to prevent the right holders from expanding their rights indefinitely and causing an imbalance in the public interest. The exhaustion of intellectual property rights is one of the common restrictions being used. According to the scope of the exhaustion of rights, it can be roughly divided into the concepts of international exhaustion, domestic exhaustion and regional exhaustion. Each country can choose to apply different exhaustion doctrines base on their own political and economic conditions. Nowadays cross-border trades are very frequent and prosperous, therefore it is very important to understand the choice and application of the doctrines of exhaustion of intellectual property rights in both legal theory and in practice, in order to prevent the infringement of related intellectual property rights in economic activities, which can lead to civil liability for damages and even criminal liability. Right holders of intellectual property rights can also plan their intellectual property rights in the global market better by understanding the exhaustion norms of different countries. In addition to introducing the basic concept of the exhaustion of intellectual property rights and the relevant norms of international treaties, this article also selects and sorts out recent relevant court judgments on the exhaustion of intellectual property rights in Taiwan and several other important countries. The aim of this article is to help readers understand the recent international development of court judgments and related discussions on the issue of the exhaustion of intellectual property rights, and also provide some suggestions and references for Taiwan on similar issues and future legal amendment.