China patent protection

Zhu D, Zhu Y, Cai H, Gao G, Gao C, Li B. Method for treating leather waste to produce coUagen with high added value by using enzyme bioreactor and membrane separator (Shenzhen Xianke Environment Protection Co., Ltd, People s Republic of China). Patent Priority CAN 145 194650 AN 2006 754551 (in Chinese). 

Initially, international pharmaceutical companies had been somewhat reluctant to place R D efforts in emerging economies due to worries about their intellectual property enviromnents. A 2005 survey by Ernst and Young of 348 senior industry executives found that respondents did not believe their companies levels of investment would reach 150 million or more by 2010 in China or India (48). At the time, 70% of the smveyed pharmaceutical executives stated that threats to intellectual property posed a business risk in China, with 62% considering patent protection in India an issue. 

Historically, as a country becomes more industrialized, it strengthens its patent system by providing protection for compounds per se, often referred to as product protection. Examples are Germany and Japan, which had process protection for pharmaceutical products until 1968 and 1978, respectively, when they amended their laws to provide product protection. China had no patent law until June 1, 1985, when it introduced process-only protection for pharmaceuticals. Effective January 1, 1993, China amended its patent laws to allow product protection. 

Other important considerations must be taken into account when formulating LADDs. Because of the corrosiveness of typical LADDs, ingredients must be added which protect both the machine itself and fine items such as china and silverware. Generally, silicate is added for this purpose, but its inherent alkalinity in aqueous solutions is not always desired. In Table 9.12 several patents are listed which describe other anticorrosion agents. 

Despite the fact that patents have the prime purpose of protecting intellectual property and commercial rights of individual companies or people, and also those of other organizations, they are a very important vehicle for the spread of information. Patents are bought, sold, and licensed to be used by third parties in the same country or in other countries. In the United States alone, every week about 12 new fuel cell patents are issued. About 500 companies are holders of at least one patent in the field (Khan, 2004). The distribution between countries is highly nonuniform. For instance, of the 1582 general fuel cell patents published in the fourth quarter of 2007,51% came from Japan, 15% from the United States, 9% from South Korea, 6% from China, and about 1% from European countries (Butler, 2008b). 

The environment for intellectual property protection is still a concern in China. Pharmaceutical companies ve been alarmed by the 2004 legal decision to overturn the Chinese patent for Pfizer s Viagra (sildenafil citrate). This was followed by a case where GlaxoSmithKline stepped back from defending its patent in China for rosiglitazone, the active ingredient of its anti-diabetes drug Avandia. 

---