Tag: Patent Law

Limitations of Patenting Traditional Chinese Medicine

Xuejiao Cao (Blake)

I. Introduction
The pandemic of COVID-19 has taken a tremendous toll on all of us, as the crisis has ravaged the world.  In China, Traditional Chinese Medicine (“TCM”) has played an important role in the treatment of COVID-19. On 19 August 2020, the General Office of National Health Commission together with the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine announced the Diagnosis and Treatment Plan for New Coronavirus Pneumonia (Trial Version 8)(“Plan”) .  In the Plan, these authorities acknowledged TCM’s contribution to curing Covid-19 patients. Just as the World Intellectual Property Organization (“WIPO”) has stipulated, “growing commercial and scientific interest in traditional medicine system has led to calls for traditional … Read the rest

New Developments in Statutory Damages for Patent Infringement in China

NI Xiang

  1. Introduction

A statutory damages system is indispensable to intellectual property protection in China. A draft of Shenzhen’s local government legislation, the “Regulations on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights of Shenzhen Special Economic Zones” sparked many discussions in China’s intellectual property law community because of its proposal of maximum damages of 5 million yuan in cases where the proceeds of infringement are difficult to determine.[1] Commentators praised the draft as the most stringent intellectual property protection regulation in Chinese history. However, the proposal was not included in the final legislation issued in early January 2019.[2] The reason may be that a new approach is stipulated in the draft of the Fourth Amendment of Patent Law, issued … Read the rest