The Understanding of Patent Exploitation Permission in Art. 866 of the Chinese Civil Code

Abstract

Abstract According to Chinese civil law, the licensor’s permission to exploit a patent is clearly to be regarded as enabling the use of the patent. However, under certain circumstances, this seemingly correct understanding sounds somehow oversimplified, especially when it intersects with Chinese patent law. And this understanding may, in the absence of a clear explicit agreement, cause several problems (such as the subjective impossibility of performance) under the Chinese legal framework. Although the concept of a negative patent license is not in conformity with the legislative intent of the Chinese Civil Code, it could be a solution to these problems.