英国专利开放许可制度实施效果的验证与启示——基于专利数量和质量的分析

Purpose/significance] The United Kingdom(UK) is considered as the first country adopted Licences of Right(LOR) system. In order to scientifically introduce this system to our country, it's necessary to verify the implementation effects of the UK's system and weigh its pros and cons. [Method/process] This paper makes an in-depth analysis on the quantity and quality of the UK's LOR patents by using Innography database. The quantity analysis includes three dimensions:time, subject of right and field of technology. The quality analysis focuses on patent strength. [Result/conclusion] The average annual number of patents that made a LOR entry is only 1364 in 2003-2019. Among the valid LOR patents, 92% of them are owned by the top 20 patentees which are foreign big enterprises, only 16 patents are owned by the universities, and their technology is concentrated in the automotive field and computer software field. It is sufficient to show that the overall attraction of the LOR system is limited and unbalanced. However, the LOR patent quality is not low. Moreover, among the valid LOR patents, there is 9% high strength patents, a few number of standard patents and few infringement. These are better than the theoretical deduction. Based on this, when this system is introduced to our country, four aspects need to be considered prudently:the discount rate of patent renewal fee, the flexible settlement of royalty, the effect of other supporting incentive mechanisms, and the applicability of Chinese universities and standard patents to this system.