食品安全责任保险二元结构论

关于食品安全责任保险,应当结合食品科学的研究以及食品安全事故发生的概率、危险程度等因素,将转基因食品、儿童食品等纳入强制责任保险,不能笼统地将所有食品安全责任纳入强制责任保险。对食品安全责任保险实行强制保险和自愿保险二元结构。就食品安全责任强制保险而言,强制投保的对象应仅限于生产者,在认定保险人的除外责任时,应正确认定被保险人的“故意”。在食品安全责任自愿保险领域,针对投保率低的现状,应当在税收、食品营销等方面采取相应措施,来推动食品安全责任保险的发展。保险人的保险金给付义务仅限于损害补偿部分,惩罚性赔偿金的目的在于惩罚生产者、销售者,因此不能通过责任保险来分散风险。     

Using patent filings to measure innovation

Ever since Bennett Woodcroft compiled his seminal index to theearly English patents, it has been recognized that the emanationsfrom Patent Offices contain a wealth of information. Battelle,in their work on patent trends analysis, revealed that approximately50 per cent of patents are used during their lifetime and that80 per cent of the information obtainable from patents is notavailable from any     

Modelling appellate courts’ responses in motor injury disputes

Motor third-liability insurance is compulsory in the European Union. We examine the behaviour of Spanish appellate courts in the context of motor liability insurance and pay particular attention to four characterising features. Specifically, we investigate (1) how the appellate court interprets the rules for updating the financial compensation when the courts’ ruling is made in a different year to that in which the motor accident occurred; (2) the response of the appellate court when its legal medical evaluation differs from the court’s decision; (3) whether the appellate court modifies the criteria when the insurance company was not charged with interest for delaying payment in the first instance; (4) whether the fault allocated by trial courts is revised by the appellate court. We apply a multi-categorical selection mechanism to deal with samples that are potentially non-random. This allows us to separately consider the characteristics of victim’s and the insurer’s decisions to appeal. The results indicate that disputing agents have significantly different appeal functions, where insurers show a more effective and consistent behaviour than victims.     

Technical Cooperation and the International Coordination of Patentability of Biotechnological Inventions

Within the formal international framework, the coordination and harmonization of substantive patentability is currently of a limited nature, confined to the level of general principles, in contrast to the greater degree of procedural coordination. This involves increased costs and a lack of legal certainty for those seeking patents in multiple jurisdictions, mainly transnational corporations in some research-based industries such as pharmaceuticals. The problems encountered in achieving even a basic level of international consensus have encouraged informal cooperation through what could be conceptualized as 'global patent networks'. Furthermore, the interrelationship between procedural and substantive patent law issues has led the Trilateral Patent Offices, an informal, transgovernmental regulatory network of technical specialists, to undertake projects relating to the harmonization of procedural and substantive patent law issues primarily in contentious areas of patentability such as biotechnology. This raises the possibility of developing convergent interpretations of the patentability rules, although with implications for accountability and legitimacy.     

专利价值之谜及其理论求解

在当今专利制度中,尽管多数专利的价值往往少于专利申请和维持的费用,但专利申请案和授权量却急剧增长。这被称之为专利价值之谜,其理论求解应从专利获取的目的出发。竞争者之所以通过申请大量专利的方式形成专利组合,是因为它既是竞争者的防卫之盾,也是其进攻之矛。非竞争者所拥有的专利组合备受人们指责;但事实上,非实施企业拥有的专利质量大都可靠。此外,大量专利的形成是专利制度为鼓励专利竞赛有意而为的结果。因为由大量专利结合而成的专利组合能够区分市场上真正的创新者和模仿者,从而保障创新者的竞争优势。我国应该采取合理的措施鼓励我国的创新企业形成自己的专利组合。     

Choosing the scope of trade secret law when secrets complement patents

We present a model where an incumbent firm has a proprietary product whose technology consists of at least two components, one of which is patented while the other is kept secret. At the patent expiration date, an entrant firm will enter the market on the same technological footing as the incumbent if it is successful in duplicating, at certain costs, the secret component of the incumbent's technology. Otherwise, it will enter the market with a production cost disadvantage. We show that under some conditions a broad scope of trade secret law is socially beneficial.     

专利行政部门在开放许可制度中应有的职能

专利开放许可制度在国外已实施百年,专利行政部门的服务职能有逐步强化的趋势。借鉴国外经验并结合我国具体情况看,我国应坚持专利许可制度的自愿性,专利行政部门的职能宜以服务为主,并可在适当范围内就争议进行裁决。专利法修改方案中应规定开放许可合同必须备案,强化专利行政部门的登记职能;限定专利行政部门的裁决内容并明确其裁决程序;要求专利行政部门发布《专利开放许可指南》,丰富和细化其服务内容。     

论专利侵权判定中等同原则的完善

专利是推动社会进步、经济发展的重要制度保证.依法保护专利权、制裁侵犯专利权的行为,首要和关键的问题就在于对是否为专利侵权进行判定."等同原则"是专利侵权判定的一项重要原则.然而,该原则的合理适用被中外专利、司法界喻为"专利诉讼中最富挑战性的难题",对"等同"的认定产生偏差将导致该原则在适用中标准不统一,严重影响司法的社会效果和司法的统一性.即力图对等同原则这一在国内外专利侵权判定中长期争论的问题再作一思考,以期对等同原则的科学适用和进一步完善进行一些有益的探讨.     

我国交强险立法定位问题研究

交强险的重复投保以及法院处理此类案件中出现的"同案不同判"现象,折射出我国交强险的保障不足及对交强险立法定位的认识分歧,实务中采取解除起期在后交强险合同的裁判方法欠缺保险法的法理依据;重复投保的成因主要在于交强险的封顶式保障模式及事故分项责任限额模式不能为被保险人和受害人提供相对充分的保险保障;而现有保障模式的形成则又受制于交强险的"不盈不亏"费率模式及为商业三责险的运营预留必要盈利空间的立法定位。解决重复投保问题的长远出路在于将商业三责险与强制三责险合二为一,在此基础上取消对三责险的封顶限制,同时改"不盈不亏"的费率模式为"适度盈利"的费率模式。     

The EPO as patent law‐maker in Europe

This article examines the role of the European Patent Organisation (EPO) in the European patent system. It shows how the delineation of European patent law has been handed over by governments to an autonomous, quasi‐judicial technocracy at the EPO and reveals how the process of hollowing out economic and political factors in the grant of patents is assisted by the deference of national courts to the EPO and the creation of the Unified Patent Court. It suggests that these developments pose a threat to democratic governance of the patent system in Europe because the delineation of intellectual property rights has inherent economic and political dimensions which are not reducible to technical legal issues of interpretation or technocratic expertise.     

论实现代位求偿权的条件

本文针对理论界存在的保险人对被保险人就非常保险责任范围内的赔偿可以取得代位求偿权的观点 ,对保险业中的代位求偿权和新合同法中规定的代位权的法律性质进行了分析研究。认为 ,保险业中的代位求偿权与新合法规定的代位权是两个不同的法律概念 ,作者提出非保险责任范围的赔偿依法不产生代位求偿权。     

我国专利间接侵权的困境及立法建议

为保护专利权人的合法利益,适应经济生活的客观需求,我国应对专利间接侵权做出明确规定,而不宜适用共同侵权规则。侵权责任法作为民事权利保护的基本法,对间接侵权应该有一个抽象概括的规定,以使专利法等法律规定的间接侵权有一个上位法的依据。而且,专利法对专利间接侵权的构成要件也应做出详细规定,以区别于专利直接侵权和专利共同侵权。     

论专利申请人之现有技术披露义务

问题专利产生了严重的社会后果,提高专利授权质量具有迫切性。高质量的现有技术检索是提高专利授权质量的前提,这在专利申请数量巨大的背景下显得尤为重要。专利申请人及其代理人在专利审查过程中,应向专利审查部门依诚信原则披露其所知悉的、对申请案之可专利性具有关键性价值的参考资料。建立具有法律效力的现有技术披露义务符合专利制度的立法目的和利益平衡原则,节约现有技术检索的社会成本,从而保障专利审查中现有技术检索的质量。我国《专利法》第36条规定了该义务,但没有规定相应的法律后果。我国应通过立法和司法两方面来完善申请人的现有技术披露义务。     

Pulling the coverage trigger: the temporal condition of liability insurance

Timing issues will continue to be at the forefront of insurance coverage disputes for a long time, and may impact not only the question of which insurer is responsible for a particular loss, but also whether any coverage exists at all. For example, if a policyholder has self-insured for any period, the timing issue may well determine whether purchased liability insurance will afford any protection for the loss. Though courts have provided useful guidelines, in order to determine coverage the facts of each case must be carefully examined, particularly the policy language and the nature of the injury on which the claim is founded. When there are difficult timing questions, one viable approach may be for the policyholder to select a "target" insurer to sue for coverage, based in part on the timing analysis, and leave to the targeted insurer the task of seeking contribution from all other carriers potentially responsible for covering the loss.     

重大突发公共卫生危机下的药品专利强制许可——现实需要、伦理因应与法律安排

新型冠状病毒肺炎于2019年底在我国爆发并迅速扩散,引发了全国性的重大突发公共卫生危机。为实现特效专利药品的充分供给,实施药品专利强制许可是最为高效的选择,不仅可以消解药品专利市场运营中所固有的“反公有地”悲剧,同时也可以有效规避药品专利国际合作中技术劫持与贸易倾轧。对于以人为本的主体性原则和与人为善的有益性原则两项伦理准则的遵循,保证了药品专利强制许可实施的伦理正义;而对于药品专利强制许可申请主体扩展和药品专利强制许可补偿标准细化两项法律完善举措的采取,则使我国药品专利强制许可机制克服了自身缺陷,能够在实践中有序运行,为重大突发公共卫生危机的化解提供制度支撑。     

Patenting of medical methods--need of the hour

LEGAL CONTEXT: There are differences between the legal system of various jurisdictionson the issue of patenting of medical and surgical methods. Insome jurisdictions, methods of treatment of the human body areconsidered as patentable. The need to grant patent protectionto medical methods is also reflected in the TRIPs Agreement. KEY POINTS: The article attempts to highlight the importance of grantingpatent protection to medical methods. Patents relating to themedical field fall into several categories. Though all thesepatents raise ethical issues, they are accepted by the societyand the medical profession and patents are available in allfields other than medical methods that include diagnostic, surgical,and therapeutic procedures. PRACTICAL SIGNIFICANCE: With the technological developments, new medical methods requireextensive research. The main concern is that medical methodsincrease the cost of healthcare and also stifle research. Butthese arguments are taken care of by the patent system itselfthat provides for compulsory licensing. The reality in the pharmaceuticalindustry shows that medical field is as sensitive to economicfactors as any other. Decisions of the Courts in various jurisdictionsprovide a valuable insight into the need for protection of medicalmethods. The recent milestone decisions of the US Supreme Courtand the Enlarged Board of Appeals of the European Patent Officeare an eye opener.     

An insurer's perspective on reform

Individual health insurance markets differ from state to state, and as a result approaches to individual market reforms need to be different. In evaluating approaches, policy makers need to remember that since the decision to purchase health insurance coverage is voluntary, the potential for adverse selection exists. In addition, rather than putting the focus of individual market reforms almost exclusively on access to health insurance for a small number of persons with high-cost health conditions, more attention needs to be put on how to decrease the number of uninsured persons. This includes making the premiums paid for individual health insurance 100 percent tax deductible, similar to those of employer-based health insurance. Finally, market reforms need to treat all types of coverage issued in the individual market the same, whether they are purchased direct for the insurer or through an out-of-state association.     

“无责赔付”之匡正——法律解释方法的视角

＂无责赔付＂指保险人对被保险人在道路交通事故中无责任的赔偿,其中＂被保险人在道路交通事故中无责任＂因不能在法律规范上全然以象征性的语言来表达,致使＂无责赔付＂的解释混乱及其规范的合法性遭受质疑。借助法律解释的基本方法,＂无责赔付＂在法律规范上获得了＂无事故责任的赔偿＂解释结果,＂责任＂因此在机动车交通事故赔偿关系中的阐释更加清晰,交强险立法的完善方向更加明确。     

论保险代位求偿权行使的权利限制

保险代位求偿权虽然为保险人的一项法定权利,但并不意味着其行使该权利不受任何限制.首先,保险人因为弃权在行使代位求偿权时权利受到一定限制及至丧失该权利;第二,第三人可依法定事由或约定事由向保险人行使抗辩权;第三,对第三人加以限定会使保险人的代位求偿权受限;第四,保险人的代位求偿权不绝对排斥被保险人对第三人的损害赔偿请求权;最后,被保险人在代位权诉讼中优先于保险人受偿.     

Patenting human beings: do sub-human creatures deserve constitutional protection?

The availability of patents for genetically altered animals raises questions about the patentability of human beings. Genetic research will produce beings who fall halfway between what we currently think of as "animal" and "human." It is unclear on which side of the legal line these creatures will fall. In April 1988, Congress revised the Patent Act with a statement that human beings are not to be considered patentable subject matter. Congress, however, failed to supply a definition of the term "human being." A definition will clarify the legal status of sub-human creatures. The author addresses this problem and proposes a definition of "human being" as an amendment to the Patent Act.