Multinational Pharmaceutical Companies In The Chinese Patent Strategy Analysis And The Revelation Of The Chinese Medicine Industry

The intellectual property rights protection system of tradition Chinese medicine industry is still weak as it begins industrialized recently and has a complicated material basis and hasn't enough technique measurement. In these years, many transnational corporations turn their study purposes to natural products with officinal value for the research and development pressure. Traditional Chinese medicine is attracting a lot of research and development devotion of transnational corporation because it has a long medical tradition and ample medical knowledge. Transnational corporations have become important propellents of modern intellectual property rights system. To transnational corporations, intellectual property system in management strategy aspect is not only original law interesting, but also a significant strategic instrument to invest and exploit. How many characteristics have the transnational corporations in patent strategy? How do transnational corporations bring threats to the traditional Chinese medicine industry about intellectual property of the traditional Chinese medicine and for traditional Chinese medicine how to face those threats from the transnational corporations? By far the present studies have no definite answer to those questions, so we take those questions for our study object.In this study, the patent data of major transnational pharmaceutical corporations in China and the applicants overseas in traditional Chinese medicine field were analyzed through many methods including close research, statistical analysis, case by case research and comparison analysis and so on. Combined those data with the investigation of relative patent lawsuit and management case, intellectual property strategy of transnational corporations was summed up and the suggestion of how to enhance intellectual property protection system of traditional Chinese medicine was provided as the followings.In Chapter 1, the development survey of transnational corporations in China was analyzed retrospectively. According to the investment depth of transnational corporations in China, the development course was divided into three stages, i.e. start, development, and adjustment and improvement. We explored the decision-making factors from the global strategy, market condition, cost factors, resource supply, policy system aspects etc.In Chapter 2, we took the member corporations of the R&D-based pharmaceutical association committee, guild of transnational pharmaceutical corporations in China, as samples to do some statistics, analysis and sum up about the patent portfolio of transnational pharmaceutical corporations in China and some related lawsuit cases. The year distribution, applicants' condition, country distribution, PCT general condition, patent cooperation and indications indexes of the patent data were gathered and analyzed. The lawsuit case part included some cases in recent years.In Chapter 3, we comprehensively searched and analyzed the patent data of transnational corporations in China, and 794 patent applications were included in the analysis, 290 of which were authorized patent. The year, applicants, country, medicinal materials producing area, technique type, indicates were taken as analyzed indexes, we found most of the overseas patent applications came from Japan, America, Korea, German, and Chinese herbs weren't the raw materials of those applications, many overseas patent applicants put forward their applications based on the natural products of their own countries or other countries. Indena Inc, Shiseido Co Ltd , Nestle Ltd were analyzed as botanical materials, commodity and food representatives respectively, and at the same time, the patent applications of Japan, American, Korea, German, India five countries were analyzed as important parts.In Chapter 4, Novartis, a company actively involving in the traditional Chinese medicine resource research and development in recent years, was selected as a key case analyzed, and the results suggested that independent innovation, R&D ally, patent permission were three ways to get the Chinese medicine patent of transnational corporations. The introduction and analysis of patent and standards of Ginkgo Biloba Extract condition indicated patent standardization strategy didn't accord with the technique characteristics and property of Chinese medicine, the major urgent of Chinese pharmaceutical industry was to improve the technique standards, and to occupy the national height of Chinese medicine industry development.In Chapter 5, through the analysis of the related data and case, the patent strategy characteristics of transnational pharmaceutical corporations and common patent strategy types were summed up.In Chapter 6, we concluded what patent strategy of transnational corporations do on the Chinese pharmaceutical industry, that isâ‘ the loss of key technology and resources of traditional Chinese medicine;â‘¡the innovative capability of Chinese pharmaceutical corporations being weakened;â‘¢patents of traditional Chinese medicine from China being devaluated.In Chapter 7, according to the realistic threats and long term effects on Chinese medicine industry that transnational corporations brought, the facing methods of domestic medical industry were provided combined with the patent strategy of transnational corporation from the government and company aspects.Through the above analysis, the conclusions were as followed.They had a full-scale and various patent strategies, and did well in using the law and administrated means to get the purpose. The patent strategy as the core strategy of transnational corporations, connected closely with business strategy and technique strategy. The general patent strategy included basic patent strategy, patent net strategy, patent permission strategy, patent lawsuit strategy and R&D ally strategy.In the Chinese medicine intellectual property protection field, about the plant, the making, the process technique of extract and R&D cooperation with overseas agents aspects, the corresponding intellectual property methods should be brought forward. In addition, Chinese medicine quality standards levels should be improved and should not become the patent typed standardized strategy which is not correspond to the technique characteristics and property of Chinese medicine.The patent portfolio and lawsuit cases show that transnational corporations applied patent system proficiently, and we should take some measures to guard against transnational corporations. Those measures should be designed from government and corporations.