摘要： 在中国专利法下，披露与发明有关的现有技术，是专利申请人的法定义务。理论上，这一制度可以消除申请人和审查员之间的信息不对称，有一定的合理性。但是，美国专利法实践表明，强化申请人披露义务会导致善意申请人过度预防，而对恶意申请人却不起作用，并造成诉讼资源浪费。现有各种改进措施或建议难以有效消除这些负面后果。在数字技术时代，专利审查的手段更加有效；申请人披露信息对专利质量提高的作用可以忽略；专利法上的配套性制度安排可以减小申请人隐瞒现有文献的负面后果。综合权衡这一制度的运行成本和实际收益之后，中国专利法应当修改现有规定，放弃专利申请人的现有技术披露义务。

关键词: 专利申请人, 现有技术披露义务, 专利质量, 不当行为抗辩

Abstract: Under Chinese Patent Law, a patent applicant has the duty to disclose prior arts material to the patentability of his invention. Theoretically, this duty could diminish information asymmetry between applicants and examiners, and thus is reasonable to certain degree. However, when operating in the United States, the duty causes excessive disclosure of prior arts by bona fide applicants, but barely has deterrence effect on bad faith applicants. Moreover, it wastes judicial resources. Various existing measures and suggestions fail to eliminate the negative consequences of this duty effectively. In this digital era, more effective measures of patent examination become available; the effect of prior arts disclosure in improving patent quality is very limited; and other relevant patent rules help to reduce the negative impacts caused by applicants’ concealing prior arts. Weighing the social costs and its actual effect, Chinese legislature should repeal applicants’ duty to disclose prior art.

Key words: Patent Applicants, Duty to Disclose Prior Arts, Patent Quality, The“Inequitable Conduct”Defense