US, China meet on biotech patenting

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the Chinese State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO), and the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) hosted a workshop on biotechnology in Beijing yesterday.

The workshop titled “Current Issues in Biotechnology Patenting in China and the United States,” aimed at bringing together SIPO and USPTO patent examiners, and patent experts from the biotech industry and academia, to discuss biotechnology patenting practices in China, according to BIO.

Panel sessions were to provide platforms for exchange of information between patent examiners from the two countries about their current patent law and rules, their perspectives on patent law and practice. Genetic disclosure in patent application was to be discussed as well as requirements for patent applications, and examination practices.

BIO is also leading a delegation of “biopharma” CEOs to meet the Chinese biotech community and government leaders. The meetings will take place at the State Food and Drug Administration, SIPO, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Commerce. Those meetings are aimed at demonstrating the high interest of western biotech companies for the Chinese market, BIO said.