The fourth revision of the Patent Law may involve reducing the time to market for pharmaceuticals

The State Intellectual Property Office held a regular press conference in the third quarter of 2018, "Economic Reference" reporter from the press conference was informed that China's domestic patent ownership of inventions has been close to 70%, but in the core technology, including medical technology, there are still short boards. The fourth revision of the Patent Law will continue to improve the drug patent-related system.
reporter interviewed close to the State Intellectual Property Office insiders were informed that the exploration of the establishment of a drug patent link system, greatly reduce the expiration of drug patents and drug time to market, or into the fourth patent law amendment program an important part.
latest data released by the State Intellectual Property Office, the number of patent applications for inventions in China in the first half of 2018 was 751,000. Invention patents granted 217,000, of which 171,000 domestic invention patents were granted. The proportion of domestic patents granted and owned has steadily increased, reaching 78.8% and 69.0%, respectively.
in quantity does not mean that there is an advantage in quality. Bi Wei, Director of the Planning and Development Department of the State Intellectual Property Office, pointed out that of the 35 technical fields classified by the World Intellectual Property Organization, 28 have fewer valid invention patents for more than 10 years in China than abroad, especially in six fields, such as optics, electrical and electrical devices, audio-visual technology, medical technology, transportation and computer technology. "There are still short boards in the core technology fields in China, and efforts are needed to improve the quality of patents, continuously strengthen the layout of high-quality core patents in key technology areas, continue to strengthen the protection and application of patents in key technology areas, and complement the patent shortboards in the core technology fields in the process of high-quality development."
it is worth mentioning that when it comes to drug patent protection, Hu Wenhui, director of the Office of the State Intellectual Property Office, pointed out that the balance of interests between pharmaceutical companies and the public should be done well. "If our pharmaceutical companies don't have the motivation to develop, and if they don't develop new and effective drugs as quickly as possible, it's actually very damaging to the public interest." On the other hand, if the price of developed drugs is too high for the public to use, it is also detrimental to the public interest. "
" at present, some multinational pharmaceutical giants in China's drug patents have expired, but even if the domestic pharmaceutical companies have the ability to produce, but also to complete clinical trials, generic drug quality and efficacy evaluation and other approval processes. At present, the drug health insurance catalog update is not timely, drugs out may not be able to enter the health insurance catalog for the time being. The fourth revision of the patent law will shorten the time between the expiry of a drug patent and the time to market, or become an important part of it, the person said.
Huifen, Head of the Examination Business Administration Department of the Patent Office of the State Intellectual Property Office of China, said that the current examination cycle for invention patents in China is 22 months. Over the next five years, the examination cycle for invention patents will be reduced by one third and the high-value examination cycle by half. (Economic Reference)