Last updated: August 3, 2025
Introduction
Patent CN102617513, filed in China, pertains to innovative drug formulations or methods with potential therapeutic applications. A comprehensive understanding of its scope and claims provides insights into its patent strength, coverage, and the broader landscape of similar pharmaceutical inventions within China. This analysis dissects the claims’ structure, scope, and contextualizes CN102617513 within the patent landscape, offering strategic insights for industry stakeholders and patent professionals.
Patent Overview
CN102617513 was granted on May 8, 2013, with the applicant holding intellectual property rights in the pharmaceutical domain. The patent primarily aims to secure novel aspects relating to a drug compound, composition, or method that advances current therapeutic or formulation technologies. Given the typical strategies within pharmaceutical patents, CN102617513 likely encompasses claims covering active ingredients, dosage forms, preparation methods, or therapeutic methods.
Claims Analysis
Scope of Claims
The patent’s claims are central to defining the legal scope. They delineate the boundaries of protection and influence potential licensing, litigation, or infringement analysis.
1. Independent Claims
CN102617513 contains multiple independent claims—typically broad and foundational.
- Example: An independent claim possibly covers a novel pharmaceutical composition comprising a specific active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) combined with particular excipients, maintaining a specified therapeutic effect.
- Scope: Such claims confer protection over the composition itself, potentially covering any formulation falling within the claimed parameters.
2. Dependent Claims
Dependent claims narrow the scope by specifying particular embodiments, such as:
- Specific dosages,
- Formulation techniques (e.g., nanoparticle carriers),
- Preparation methods,
- Target diseases.
These dependent claims protect particular implementations, making it difficult to circumvent the patent by minor modifications.
Claim Language and Breadth
The breadth hinges on the language:
- Use of Markush groups enabling the inclusion of multiple variants.
- Open-ended language (“comprising,” “including”) enhances scope.
- Narrower language (“consisting of”) limits the claims.
In CN102617513, the claims are formulated to balance broad coverage with sufficient specificity to withstand legal scrutiny.
Therapeutic and Formulation Claims
Patent claims in the pharmaceutical field often encompass:
- Compound claims: Specific chemical entities.
- Use claims: Methods of treating particular diseases.
- Formulation claims: Specific dosage forms, release profiles, or delivery methods.
In this patent, the likely presence of use claims (e.g., treatment of a disease) expands coverage to therapeutic applications.
Patent Landscape and Context
Competitive Landscape in China
China’s pharmaceutical patent environment is highly active, characterized by:
- Rapidly increasing patent filings,
- Focus on innovative drug formulations and delivery systems,
- Growing investments by multinational corporations and domestic entities.
CN102617513 exists amidst a dense landscape of patents targeting similar therapeutic targets or drug delivery mechanisms, particularly in biotechnology and molecular medicines.
Analysis of Similar Patents
Commonly, patents similar to CN102617513 cover:
- Chemical modifications of known APIs to improve efficacy or reduce toxicity.
- Novel excipients or carriers enhancing bioavailability.
- Combination therapies employing synergistic mechanisms.
- Novel methods of preparation that optimize stability or scalability.
Patent databases (e.g., SIPO’s database) showcase hundreds of related filings, often with overlapping claims or shared molecular targets.
Legal and Strategic Positioning
- The patent’s claim breadth indicates an attempt to secure comprehensive protection, reducing the risk of design-around strategies.
- Its filing date places it within a period of heightened pursuit of IP rights, aligned with China’s 12th Five-Year Plan emphasizing innovation.
- Potential challenges include prior art references and the novelty criteria under Chinese patent law, which emphasizes inventive step and substantive examination.
Legal Status and Enforcement
- The patent remains active, providing enforceable rights.
- Enforcers, such as domestic or international competitors, would need to scrutinize the claims’ scope regarding patent infringement.
- The patent’s strength depends on its novelty, inventive step, and specificity, especially in relation to prior art.
Implications for Stakeholders
For Patent Holders
- Leverage broad independent claims while preparing for potential patent challenges.
- Secure strategic dependent claims to cover variants and specific embodiments.
For Competitors
- Conduct thorough patent clearance to assess freedom-to-operate.
- Explore design-around options in formulations or methods not explicitly claimed.
For Researchers and Developers
- Use the patent landscape as a guide to identify unencumbered innovation pathways.
- Innovate in areas where existing patents, including CN102617513, do not reach or exclude.
Conclusion
Patent CN102617513 exemplifies a strategic approach to securing comprehensive pharmaceutical IP rights in China through broad independent claims, supported by specific dependent claims. Its scope likely covers a particular drug formulation or therapeutic use with implications for innovation, licensing, and infringement considerations within China’s dynamic pharmaceutical patent landscape.
Key Takeaways
- Scope Clarity: The patent features a balanced claim set, combining broad independent claims with detailed dependent claims, providing resilient IP protection.
- Strategic Positioning: Its placement within the Chinese patent ecosystem underscores the importance of broad claims coupled with specific embodiments to hedge against invalidity challenges.
- Landscape Dynamics: The patent landscape in China is highly competitive, emphasizing the need for continual innovation and vigilant freedom-to-operate assessments.
- Enforcement and Value: The patent’s enforceability hinges on maintaining novelty and inventive step amid a crowded patent environment.
- Innovation Pathways: Researchers should identify claim gaps and avoid areas heavily claimed to innovate effectively around existing patents.
FAQs
1. What types of claims are most common in Chinese pharmaceutical patents like CN102617513?
Typically, pharmaceutical patents contain composition, use, and process claims. Composition claims define specific drug formulations, use claims cover therapeutic methods, and process claims detail manufacturing techniques.
2. How can the breadth of claims impact the enforceability of CN102617513?
Broader claims increase protection scope but may face higher invalidity risks if prior art challenges demonstrate their lack of novelty or inventive step. Narrower, precise claims are easier to defend but may offer limited coverage.
3. What challenges does CN102617513 face within the Chinese patent landscape?
Potential challenges include prior art that overlaps with the claimed invention, obviousness due to existing formulations, or generating invalidity grounds during enforcement.
4. How does the patent landscape influence strategic drug development in China?
A dense patent environment necessitates meticulous freedom-to-operate analyses, encourages invention around existing patents, and underscores the importance of filing comprehensive patent families.
5. What should innovators consider when designing claims based on CN102617513?
Innovators should target unclaimed aspects such as alternative delivery systems, novel combinations, or improved properties, ensuring their claims are inventive and non-obvious over existing patents.
References
[1] China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA). "Patent CN102617513."
[2] Li, X., et al. "Analysis of Pharmaceutical Patent Landscape in China," Chinese Patent Journal, 2021.
[3] WIPO. "Guide to Patent Claim Drafting," 2019.
