China's top court rules on first gene technology-related drug patent licensing case

BEIJING -- China's Supreme People's Court (SPC) announced the judgment on its first administrative case of patent re-examination for a gene technology-related drug in Beijing on Dec 13.

The SPC ordered the National Intellectual Property Administration (NIPA) to amend its decision on the review of the patent.

The case is related to the invention patent application of "binding molecules," which allegedly belong to the domain of monoclonal antibody technology.

Patent applications for the molecules had been twice submitted to the NIPA but were both rejected. The applicant filed a lawsuit and the Beijing Intellectual Property Court (BIPC) made a judgment ordering the NIPA to revoke its decision. The NIPA refused to accept the judgment and appealed to the intellectual property court of the SPC.

The SPC affirmed the verdict of the first trial under the BIPC, warning against underestimating the creativity involved in inventions.

Experts said the judgment of the case would exert a profound influence on protecting research and innovation in the biopharmaceutical field.