Evidence of Patent Quality and its Implications for Patent Policy

摘要

This article looks at the fundamental issue of whether current patent policies to improve patent quality are based on evidence. Patent quality is a wide concept covering validity, certainty and other attributes. As for the meaning of patent quality, this article mainly takes on the currently prevailing idea that equates patent quality with legality in applying existing statutory patentability requirements. This article reviews the general perceptions and empirical evidences of patent quality, and investigates whether the current patent quality policy is supported by substantial evidence.