A draft amendment to China's Patent Law, debated by legislators yesterday, would tighten the rules to protect the rights of patent holders.
The national patent administrative department would have to inform patent holders about coercive permission before that permission is given.
Coercive permission is where other individuals or companies are allowed to use a patent whether the actual patent holder likes it or not.
The draft amendment will be put to the vote on Friday when the 17th Session of the Standing Committee of the Ninth National People's Congress ends.
The draft amendment shows the decision of coercive permission would be based on three legal rules.
The first would be where someone can get coercive permission when he proves he cannot get permission from the patent holder within a reasonable period and with reasonable offers.
Secondly, the national patent office would be able to grant coercive permission of a patent for the public interest or in case of a State emergency.
Thirdly, where a patent is based on a previous patent, patent holders whose inventions have more significance than previous ones would be able to get coercive permission from the patent office. According to the draft amendment, the national patent office would stop any coercive permission if the patent holder decided to go ahead and give his own permission for someone to use his patent.
The legislators want to make the 15-year-old Patent Law compatible with the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property - the so-called TRIPs Agreement.
China must sign this agreement after it joins the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The TRIPs Agreement covers the major areas of patent. It also provides for the minimum mechanisms WTO member countries must establish to ensure the rights of patent holders.
Legislators have given top priority to making the draft amendment compatible with the TRIPs Agreement in the previous two rounds of deliberations over the draft amendment.
(China Daily August 22, 2000)
