| According to statistics on “Deposition and issue of microorganisms for patent purpose at International Depository Institutes from 2001 to 2009” recently issued by WIPO, the Chinese applicants deposited 887 and 1,120 strains of microorganisms for patent purpose in 2008 and 2009, respectively, dwarfing rest of the world for two consecutive years.
According to the statistics issued by WIPO, 69,546 strains of microorganisms for patent purposes are deposited at 37 International Depository Institutes in 22 different countries all over the world, and 12,988 strains of microorganisms are provided to the public by the International Depository Institutes. By the end of 2009, the United States deposited the largest number of microorganisms (29,423 strains); Japan deposited 10,033 strains of microorganisms; German deposited 6,647 strains of microorganisms; and China deposited 6,614 strains of microorganisms, ranking fourth in the worldwide. Besides, the United States issued the largest number of microorganisms (9, 796 strains), German issued 720 strains of microorganisms, Japan issued 669 strains of microorganisms, and China issued 148 strains of microorganisms, ranking eighth in the worldwide.
It is reported that microorganisms for patent purposes are the core of the patent biotechnology. The amounts of deposition and issue of microorganisms for patent purposes reflect the level of biotechnology research in a country, activities on biological studies, and protective effect of intellectual property in biotechnology field on the one hand.
(China IP) |
