China into overdrive
China into overdrive - Griffith Hack
| 15 March 2011 | |||||
| A document released by China’s Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) has revealed that China is targeting to quadruple both foreign and domestic patent applications filed by Chinese nationals for every 1 million people by 2020. The document titled “National Patent Development Strategy (2011 to 2020)” has revealed that China plans to offer incentives of cash, houses and tax breaks to scientists and innovators. China’s new focus on the expansion of patents and intellectual property includes plans to provide infrastructure for quicker filing, examining, granting and commercialization of patents. Not surprisingly this news has raised concerns from many who believe that the campaign may cause even more damage to China’s already undermined domestic reputation to enforce intellectual property rights. Of more concern, however, is how this campaign may to a larger extent effect the process of securing patent rights internationally. In particular, there are several problems that may arise from China’s plans. One is the potential for an increase in the disparity between China’s patent laws and other countries. A further problem is an increase in the Chinese patent thicket, with the language difficulty making it difficult to navigate. Another is a large increase in the publication of Chinese patent documents, resulting in an escalation of potentially relevant prior art. However, Chinese prior art often lacks proper translation. As a result, it is common that only abstracts of the publications are obtained and cited during examination, meaning that relevant prior art could be missed or overlooked during examination of patent applications outside of China. | |||||
|
