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Four China Vitamin C Producers Charged in US Antitrust Suit Mar 14, 2011: Four China pharmaceutical companies have been charged with price fixing in a US antitrust case According to the plaintiffs, the four companies, representing about 60% of the world’s vitamin C production, signed a document in 2001 limiting the amount of vitamin C each one could export. As a result, the price of vitamin C rose from $2.50 per kilogram in December 2001 to $7 one year later. The defendants are not contesting the facts, choosing instead to raise an unusual defense: the government of China mandated the collusion. More details....

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China and Taiwan Sign IP Agreement Jul 26, 2010: China has signed an intellectual property agreement with Taiwan that calls for each country to automatically recognize IP as valid in both countries, even if it is filed only in one. Under the new agreement, the two countries will be able to verify IP directly with each other. Previously, they had to use Hong Kong as an intermediary. Details of the agreement remain to be worked out. More details....

Allele Granted Broad RNAi Patents in China Feb 11, 2010: Allele Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals was granted a landmark patent with far-reaching claims in China in the RNA interference field (RNAi). The patent covers compositions of DNA molecules that can be transcribed into RNAi-mediating RNA molecules, including the commonly used shRNA and miRNA-like designs. The patent also grants Allele Biotech rights to the process of introducing such DNA molecules into cells. More details...

Novartis Says Weak IP Protection Makes India R&D Impossible Nov 12, 2009: Novartis once again said that India is not a place to do R&D because its IP laws are not strong enough to protect discoveries. In 2006, Novartis made a commitment to build a $125 million R&D facility in Hyderabad. The next year, after the company lost a patent battle over its blockbuster cancer drug, Gleevec (Glivec outside the US), Novartis reneged on the center. Last week, Novartis earmarked $1.25 billion for R&D activity in China. More details...
Stock Symbol: (NYSE: NVS)

New Patent Rules Take Effect on October 1 Oct 1, 2009: The Third Amendment to China’s Patent Law takes effect today, October 1, 2009. The net effect of the revision is to bring China’s patent rules into greater conformity with worldwide standards of patent law. For the government, one of the main purposes of the Amendment was to strengthen intellectual property protection and promote adherence to the new rules by increasing penalties. More details...

Waves of Changes in Chinese Patent Law and Regulations: Final Update – Part III Feb 2, 2009: China's patent statutes and administrative rules have just completed their third major revision since they were first instituted in 1984. The most recent revision has been underway for almost four years and involved three separate draft proposals. Here, Dr. Charles Liu of Unitalen Law discusses the patent law changes and the process involved to arrive at the final version. In this third and last installment, Dr. Liu covers the topics Patent Misuse and Unfaithful Proceeding, Compulsory Licenses, Disclosure of Genetic Resources, Patent Licensing and Joint Ownership, Empowerment of Patent Administration, and Designation of Patent Firms to Handle Foreign-Related Matters. More details…

Waves of Changes in Chinese Patent Law and Regulations: Final Update -- Part II Jan 26, 2009: China's patent statutes and administrative rules have just completed their third major revision since they were first instituted in 1984. The most recent revision has been underway for almost four years and involved three separate draft proposals. Here, Dr. Charles Liu of Unitalen Law discusses the patent law changes and the process involved to arrive at the final version. In this second of three installments, Dr. Liu covers the topics Design Patents, Limited Exceptions from Infringement, and Damages and Injunctive Relief, and Patent Counterfeiting. More details…

Waves of Changes in Chinese Patent Law and Regulations: Final Update, Part I Jan 19, 2009: China's patent statutes and administrative rules have just completed their third major revision since they were first instituted in 1984. The most recent revision has been underway for almost four years and involved three separate draft proposals. Here, Dr. Charles Liu of Unitalen Law discusses the patent law changes and the process involved to arrive at the final version. We will present the material in three installments, starting with the topics Novelty and Inventiveness, Secrecy Check and Foreign Filing License, and Crossover of Invention and Utility Model. More details...

China Will Lead Patent Filings in 2012 Dec 10, 2008: China will be the world’s leading technology innovator by 2012, according to the Scientific division of Thomson Reuters. The company looked at trends in patent filings (and patent awards) and extrapolated the trends forward to make the prediction. During the period 2002-2007, China’s patent filings grew at an annual rate of 34%. Next best was the US at a paltry 13%. But even the US’s performance is better than Japan’s, which actually dropped at an average of 3% per year. More details...

Waves of Changes in Chinese Patent Law and Regulations: A Further Update--Part III Nov 5, 2008: To maintain the momentum of its economy, China needs innovation, which requires patent protection. To encourage innovation, China is undertaking the third revision of its patent law, with the aim of raising the bar on patent requirements and providing adequate patent protection by tightening patent enforcement. Charles C. Liu, PhD, JD, and Jeanne J. Liu have illuminated the direction of the government’s thinking on IP by detailing the changes in each Proposed Draft of the new Patent Law. Here, in the third installment of a three-part article, they discuss the most recent iteration, the Draft of August 2008. More details…