A Study on the Feasibility of Patent Insurance System in Taiwan

[[abstract]]高科技產業中位於技術領先地位之廠商，每年皆能藉由專利權為公司帶來龐大之權利金收入與產品利潤，然則除了專利帶給企業的利潤與收益外，專利對於企業經營所造成之風險亦不容忽視，專利訴訟之案件在近年來急速激增，而專利訴訟之結果如不理想可能導致廠商嚴重虧損甚至面臨破產，尤其對中小企業而言，動輒數百萬乃至數千萬之和解或訴訟費用，更是企業經營之一大負擔，而選擇一個適合企業本身且有效的風險管理機制來規避與分散風險則是解決之道。企業面對風險時有各式各樣之處理方法，其主要目的為降低損失與能在損失後迅速復原，保險乃企業面對風險時之最佳風險管理策略，若能以保險制度來承擔專利風險所導致的龐大訴訟費用與相關支出，則企業將能以最少之風險管理成本達成最大之風險管理效益。 美國之專利保險制度日趨成熟，其保險契約中條款的規範與實務上之運作有許多值得我國學習之處，歐盟之產業環境與我國相似，其以保障中小企業為目的之專利保險制度值得我國參考。若能以歐盟之專利保險制度為基礎，再參考美國專利保險契約之條款與運作，並根據我國之環境與需求加以修改，將可設計出一套適合我國之專利保險制度。我國欲施行專利保險可能會遇到專利保護觀念不彰、保費過高、專利鑑價不成熟以及人才不足等問題，造成推動專利保險機制之困難。本文建議我國之專利保險制度應以強制保險方式實施，配合公家資金的投入以提升公信力與降低保費，持續推動專利鑑價市場之發展與專利鑑價師之認證，並培育跨領域之專利保險以及專利鑑價人才，如此將能發展出一套適合我國永續發展之專利保險制度。[[abstract]]In the technology industry every year High-tech companies can earn enormous royalty income and product profits from their patents owned However in addition to the profits and earnings produced the risks caused by patent infringement also can not be ignored The legal litigations regarding patent infringement increase rapidly in recent years but as the result of such litigation are not desirable it could lead the companies to a serious loss or even bankruptcy Especially for small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) it is an enormous burden for the companies spending millions or tens of millions on compromise fees or litigation fees Therefore the solutions are to choose a suitable and effective risk management system for the company itself to circumvent and disperse the risks There are various methods when a company confronts with risks insurance is the best risk management strategy to reduce the loss and to recover quickly after the loss If companies take advantages of the insurance system to bear the risk of patent litigation as a result of the huge costs and related expenses companies will be able to achieve maximum effectiveness of risk management at the minimum cost of risk management The patent insurance system of the United States has matured day by day and the operations between the norms and practices are really worth for Taiwan to learn The industry environment in EU and Taiwan is similar however the main purpose of the EU patent insurance system is to protect SMEs and that is something worth for us to study We should use the EU insurance system as a foundation and then refer to the terms and operations of the United States insurance contracts and modify it in accordance with the requirements and conditions in Taiwan We will be able to design a set of patent insurance system that suits Taiwan However it might be true that we may face some problems such as lacking ideas of patent protection high premiums the immaturity and insufficiency of professionals in patent valuation Thus this thesis recommends that we should enforce compulsory patent insurance system to overcome the above-mentioned difficulties of promoting the patent insurance syste