미국 특허법 제271조(f)에 대한 법리의 전개과정과 연방대법원 Life Technologies 판결

The principle of territoriality states that the patent law of a particular country only comes into the effect within the territory of that country. Historically, the U.S. courts have ruled out having legal effects on acts conducted abroad by the principle of the presumption against extraterritoriality. However, the U.S. Congress, on the basis of 1972 Deepsouth Packing decision, had legislated 35 U.S.C. § 271(f) to create a cause of action for a patent holder when a third party supplies from U.S. components of the patent holder’s invention and those components subsequently assembled abroad. The U.S. courts applied the statute to mechanical devices, compounds, and medicines, but not to design patents. In particular, the applicability of 35 U.S.C. § 271(f) on software and method patents had been disputed, and the U.S. Supreme court had found that this statute is not applicable to software through the Microsoft decision in 2007. Also, the CAFC had ruled that 35 U.S.C. § 271(f) is not applicable to method patents through the Cardiac Pacemakers decision in 2009. Hereafter, the Supreme Court had adopted the legal principle that a single component is not a “substantial portion” specified by 35 U.S.C. § 271(f)(1) through the Life Technologies decision in 2017. Ultimately, the Supreme Court’s the Microsoft decision and Life Technologies decision which limit the scope of 35 U.S.C. § 271(f), are “good policies” based on the principle of territoriality and the presumption against extraterritoriality to preserve the values of international comity and other countries’ sovereignty and patent law.