China needs patent revisions
p2pnet.net News:-“It’s high time for China to revise regulations on patent ownership after its access into the World Trade Organization.”
The statement comes from China’s ministry of science and technology director-general Shi Dinghuan, quoted by news agency Xinhua on news that research bodies responsible for “key state research programs” could now own patents derived from them.
“The State Council General Office recently approved a regulation on patent management of state scientific and technological research programs,” it says. “China’s ministries and localities are ordered to comply with the regulation to help produce more patents through state-funded research work.
“The ministry’s spokesman Shi Dinghuan said that the state would grant research bodies the ownership of any patent resulting from state-sponsored projects, except those vital to national security, and the state and public interests.”
Responsible research bodies could decide on future use of the patented technology, said Shi, but in the meanwhile, “the state still had the right to freely use the patent and develop relevant technology, Shi said.
The state’s science and technology management bodies were also responsible for urging patent owners to, “judiciously commercialize their patents”.
Chinese scientists have made about 30,000 scientific breakthroughs each year since the 1990s, says Xinhua, going on that in 1998, five core national research programs resulted in 1,369 patents, including 462 inventions.
“The traditional system of state ownership of those patents gives researchers less chance of applying for patents,” it says, adding:
“Many developed countries including Japan and the United States adopted bills to protect researchers’ interests at the end of last century.”
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See:-
revise regulations – China Allows Research Bodies to Own State-funded Patents, Xinhuanet, February 4, 2005
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