Research on Infringement Damages of Software Intellectual Property Based on Economic Analysis

Abstract

Realizing the knowledge assets' value and protecting intellectual property is one of the function of knowledge management. And damages of software intellectual property play a crucial role in intellectual property protection. Based on the analysis of the characteristic and compensation mode of software infringement, this paper discusses a theoretical model of calculating infringement damages for software, and also makes an empirical analysis by using the practical data. This paper suggests that the infringement damages for software should be determined in the perspective of escaping liability. Compared with other infringements, the infringer has more chance of escaping liability in software infringement. Accordingly, punitive damages for software infringement should be applied in more cases. This paper also suggests that punitive damages should be a multiple of the profit difference by reason of software infringement, based on the the theory of monopoly, equilibrium and externality in economics. And the multiple is the reciprocal of the probability of bearing software infringement liability. Keywords-software infringement; damages; public goods; the theory of externalityI.