In March 2022, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) published its Patent Landscape Report: COVID-19-Related Vaccines and Therapeutics. This was WIPO’s first report analyzing COVID-19-related patent activity to identify trends in technological innovation in response to the pandemic. According to the report, 49 patent offices worldwide received nearly 5,300 COVID-19-related patent filings during the first 21 months of the pandemic, including nearly 1,500 filings relating to therapeutics and more than 400 relating to vaccines. Universities and research institutions were the most active applicants in vaccine-related filings.
The report identified China as the largest source of patent filings relating to COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics. As of September 2021, 276 vaccine-related patent families originated in China, and Chinese applicants had also filed 887 patent applications relating to COVID-19 therapeutics. In terms of research and development, World Health Organization data showed that, as of October 2021, China had 34 COVID-19 vaccines under development, of which 23 had entered clinical trials, giving China the second-highest total worldwide. These figures placed China among the world’s leading countries in innovation relating to COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics.
Source: https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/art/2022/3/14/art_53_174043.html