Patent Protection of the Traditional Chinese Medicine and Its Impact on the Related Industries in China

Abstract

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) IP strategy is an integral part of China's national IP strategy. It is of great value for the implementation of the Strategy to study the status quo of the patent protection of TCM and its impact on the related industries. This paper gives a multidimensional illustration of the current of the patent protection of TCM in China in view of the following aspects: patent applications, patent grants, PCT and the object of the patent protection of TCM. It demonstrates the impact of patent protection on the TCM industry after a detailed analysis of the R&D expense, social effects, human resources in TCM institutions and their output of scientific/technical papers. Finally, it analyzes the challenges facing the patent protection of TCM and discusses some tentative solutions.