Recently, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) held a press conference online to release the Patent Landscape Report on COVID-19 related vaccines and therapeutics.

The report, prepared by WIPO, is the WIPO's first report to analyze the COVID-19-related patent activity to study the anti-epidemic technological innovation trends. The report pointed out that in the 21 months after the outbreak, 49 patent offices around the world received nearly 5,300 patent applications related to COVID-19, including nearly 1,500 applications related to therapeutics and more than 400 applications related to vaccines. Among them, universities and scientific research institutions are the most active in vaccine-related applications.

According to the report, China is the largest source of patent applications related to COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics. As of September 2021, applications from 276 vaccine-related patent families are from China, and Chinese applicants have also applied for 887 COVID-19 therapeutic patents. In terms of specific research and development, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), as of October 2021, China has a total of 34 COVID-19 vaccines under development, of which 23 have entered the clinical trial phase, ranking second in the world in total. This shows that China is in the world's "first phalanx" in terms of COVID-19 vaccine and therapeutic innovation. Moreover, major intellectual property authorities around the world, including the CNIPA, have opened green channels for COVID-19-related applications.

(Source: the CNIPA)