Author: Tang Fangfang Time: 16.06.2020
Life and health are closely related to each and every one of us, and the life and health industry has also been listed as a national strategic emerging industry. Over the years, the country and various regions have done a lot of publicity and incentive work, which has played an important role in the improvement of the national life science and technology industry.
The development of the life and health industry has a long history, and both domestic and international research efforts have been made to improve biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, and other closely related fields. The sudden outbreak of the epidemic has made us more aware of the importance of health. Not only in China, but also worldwide, the attention and importance of the life and health industry will continue to increase. The life and health industry will usher in new opportunities and challenges.
In 2020, the 20th World Intellectual Property Day was celebrated, with “Intellectual Property and Healthy China” as the theme of the national publicity week, guiding the public to pay more attention to intellectual property and protect it, and creating a good social atmosphere for innovative development. What is the current patent accumulation in the life and health industry? This article uses the PatentCloud big data analysis platform to analyze and automatically collect patent data, presenting the current layout of the life technology industry.
There is a large accumulation of industrial patents, with China being the main country for layout
The life and health industry has accumulated over 5 million patents in five bureaus, with China having the most patents, followed by the United States and Japan. Moreover, in the three countries of China, Japan, and South Korea that have utility model patents, it can also be seen that their invention patents account for the vast majority.
According to the current demographic analysis of China, the country is facing a severe situation of “low birth rate” and “aging population”. The proportion of children in the total population is significantly decreasing, while the proportion of elderly people is continuously increasing. This is also a key factor affecting the market. Therefore, when making patent layouts, it is also necessary to have forward-looking thinking and consider future market prospects.
Source: Patentcloud
Figure 1: Statistics of Patent Applications from the Fifth Bureau of the Life and Health Industry
From the perspective of application trends, considering that some patent data for 2019 and 2020 have not been made public, compared to the patent application situation before 2018, Chinese patents have surpassed the other four countries/regions since 2008, accelerated growth since 2010, and the upward trend from 2015 to 2018 has become flat. The other four patent bureaus showed a growth trend in the early stage but relatively flat, and the number of patent applications has shown a downward trend in the past five years.
Source: Patentcloud
Figure 2 Analysis of Patent Application Trends in the Fifth Bureau of the Life and Health Industry
Foreign companies are actively laying out patents in China
Although the previous analysis of the data shows that Chinese patents outperform the other four bureaus in terms of cumulative quantity and growth momentum, it is worth noting that foreign companies account for half of the top 10 patent owners in terms of patent application volume in China, and the top ranked patent owner is a foreign company, indicating that foreign companies attach great importance to their layout in Chinese patents. On the contrary, when we look at the ranking of US patent holders, Chinese companies did not make it into the top 10, and most of them are domestic US companies. Chinese companies still have a long way to go to compete with international leading enterprises in terms of patents.
Source: Patentcloud
Figure 3 Statistics of Chinese Patent Owners in the Life and Health Industry
Source: Patentcloud
Figure 4: Statistics of US Patent Owners in the Life and Health Industry
There are many patents that can be referenced and borrowed from various categories of technologies
In terms of the distribution of patent categories, patents related to special therapeutic activity, diagnosis, surgery, and identification of medical configurations, chemicals, or drugs are predominant. Among them, patents related to diagnosis, surgery, identification, implantable filters/prostheses in blood vessels, devices that provide openings or prevent collapse of human tubular structures, electrotherapy/magnetic therapy/radiation therapy/ultrasound therapy, etc. are more common in the United States than in China.
In different technology categories, a considerable number of patents have been accumulated, which is beneficial for enterprises to learn from and innovate in the research and development process. For example, by referring to the latest technology, leading enterprise technology, core technology and other related patents, taking the CN202010288385.1 patent in Figure 6 as an example, a recently applied intelligent negative ion ultraviolet rapid sterilization device technology can be obtained from patent publications, and the latest patent technology trends can be understood.
Source: Patentcloud
Figure 5 Classification and Statistics of Life and Health Industry
Source: Patentcloud
Figure 6: Patent No. CN202010288385.1
Under new opportunities, the life and health industry should not only focus on innovative technologies, but also consider the intention of overseas companies in China to attach importance to patent layout, which may become a huge challenge in the future. For the achievements of innovative research and development, layout strategies and intellectual property protection should be planned in advance. In addition, the life and health industry has accumulated many patented technologies, which can be analyzed and reasonably utilized through patent information to assist in research and development, and to control risks in advance.
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