Can Product-by-Process Patent Claims Provide Protection for Modernized Chinese Herbal Medicine?

• Autores: Jerry I.-H. Hsiao
• Localización: Journal of world intellectual property, ISSN 1422-2213, Vol. 12, Nº 4, 2009, págs. 245-265
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The rising importance of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) in alleviating human suffering has created a potential niche for East Asian countries in the profitable global pharmaceutical market. However, modern CHM that involves modern biomedical technologies presents new issues regarding the proper degree and methods of protection that apply to these products or inventions. Pharmaceutical industries most commonly seek patent protection, which offers different types of protections for different types of inventions. This article explores whether product-by-process patent claims provide proper protection to CHM product inventions and the likely implications of such an approach. It concludes that product-by-process patent claims may offer proper protection for CHM product inventions at the current status quo but might be an inadequate approach when the industry matures in the future.