Traditional Chinese Medicine Patent Needs to be Protected

"Liushen Pills" in Japan has become a "heart-saving pill", "Niuhuang Jiuxin Pills" into the South Korea of the new pot into "Niuhuang Qingxin Liquid" ...... These let the domestic Chinese medicine practitioners heartbreaking facts show that China's traditional Chinese medicine in the field of intellectual property protection is still very fragile. Chinese medicine to get better development, patent protection is imminent.

Traditional Chinese medicine has always been an advantageous field in China, but China is not optimistic about the patent protection of traditional Chinese medicine.

Some countries take advantage of the backwardness of China's intellectual property rights to obtain the intellectual property rights of traditional Chinese medicine through cooperation, acquisition, merger and other means, resulting in the loss of some valuable ancient prescriptions, proved prescriptions and ancestral secret prescriptions to foreign countries. According to the "World Patent Database" statistics, in the world's Chinese herbal medicine and plant medicine patent applications, the number of Chinese medicine patent applications accounted for 44.4, but my country's Chinese medicine patent applications accounted for only 0.3. Hundreds of foreign companies and research groups are looking for and developing new drugs from traditional Chinese medicine. Taking mint as an example, eight patents have fallen into the hands of Americans, mainly used in high-profit markets such as chewing gum. However, China's patents are only mints, mint water, etc., and the market space is limited.

At present, the laws and regulations related to the protection of intellectual property rights of traditional Chinese medicine in my country mainly include "Patent Law", "Trademark Law", "Copyright Law", and "Regulations on the Protection of Traditional Chinese Medicine Varieties. Although these laws and regulations have played a great protective role, they are not synchronized with the development of the situation. China's current intellectual property protection methods and measures of traditional Chinese medicine are not in line with the internationally recognized intellectual property protection, which has become a major obstacle for traditional Chinese medicine to enter the international drug market as a drug.

It is understood that it is difficult to obtain approval, the approval cycle is too long, and the scope of protection is small. For example, many domestic Chinese medicine manufacturers choose administrative protection methods such as the protection of Chinese medicine varieties, and rarely choose to apply for patents. Compared with the protection of traditional Chinese medicine varieties, the examination period of traditional Chinese medicine patent application is longer. Moreover, the protection period of Chinese medicine patents is 20 years, and the primary protection period of Chinese medicine variety protection can reach 20 years or even longer.

Even if you have applied for a patent, you are likely to face infringement issues. Most traditional Chinese medicine is compound, dozens of substances are mixed together, and complex chemical reactions may occur during processing. After making proprietary Chinese medicine, it is difficult to analyze its original formula and production process even with the most advanced instruments. In practice, even if the obligee believes that others may have infringed their patent rights, because it is difficult to compare the technical characteristics of other people's products with the technical characteristics of their own patents, it is impossible to prove whether others have infringed.

Furthermore, for companies, applying for a patent means disclosing their invention. In particular, the formula of traditional Chinese medicine will take a great risk of "plagiarism" once the formula is made public, and the existing patent law can not investigate the legal responsibility for this phenomenon. If a patent application is not approved, it may also lose trade secrets or attract the attention of competitors.

In the face of such a dilemma, it is urgent to study and formulate a patent protection system of traditional Chinese medicine that is in line with international practice and highlights the protection of national interests.

We can learn from the advanced experience of other countries in the protection of traditional medicine and formulate special laws and regulations suitable for the protection of traditional Chinese medicine in China, such as the Law on the Protection of Patents of traditional Chinese Medicine, as a supplement to China's patent law. Moreover, it should be in line with international standards, seek international basis for China's traditional medicine intellectual property rights, and make up for the lack of protection of traditional Chinese medicine varieties with the advantages of patents.

At the same time, enterprises themselves should also raise their awareness of intellectual property protection, and attach importance to the importance of patents as intangible assets and competitive weapons from the perspective of scientific research, business strategy and development strategy. The government should encourage and support enterprises to actively apply for Chinese medicine patents, look at the international market, and grasp the advantages of my country's Chinese medicine research and production.

In addition, a full-time institution for the protection of the right to knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine can be established. For example, the establishment of the National Society for the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights of Traditional Chinese Medicine, mobilizing people of insight at home and abroad to carry out intellectual property research, and coordinating and managing the protection of intellectual property rights of traditional Chinese medicine across the country.

News source:http://ip.people.com.cn/n1/2017/0401/c136655-29184955.html