Last updated: July 31, 2025
Introduction
Patent CN110352058, filed in China, pertains to innovative developments within the pharmaceutical sector, specifically focusing on a novel drug or formulation. Establishing a comprehensive understanding of this patent’s scope, claims, and landscape is essential for stakeholders—pharmaceutical companies, legal entities, and R&D teams—seeking to navigate China’s complex intellectual property environment and assess competitive positioning.
This analysis systematically dissects the patent’s claims, evaluates its scope, and contextualizes it within China’s pharmaceutical patent landscape, including relevant prior art and potential freedom-to-operate considerations.
Patent Overview
Filing and Publication Details:
CN110352058 was filed with the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA). While exact filing and publication dates are subject to confirmation, patents with similar numbering typically filed in recent years highlight recent innovation trends. The patent appears to focus on a pharmaceutical composition or a method of manufacturing a drug, reflecting intellectual investment into therapeutic agents.
Technical Area:
Preliminary review indicates it belongs to the chemistry or pharmaceuticals category, likely relating to active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), drug delivery systems, or formulations designed to enhance efficacy or reduce side effects.
Scope of the Patent
Legal Scope and Patentability Basis:
The scope of CN110352058 hinges on the claims delineating the technical features deemed new and inventive. A patent’s scope determines the boundaries of legal protection and influences licensing and enforcement decisions.
Core Inventions and Features:
While precise claim language requires direct citation (absent here), typical pharmaceutical patents at this level include claims covering:
- Novel chemical entities or derivatives with specific pharmacological activity.
- Specific formulations, such as controlled-release or targeted delivery systems.
- Manufacturing methods enhancing yield, purity, or stability.
- Use claims, indicating therapeutic applications of the compound or formulation.
Given the patent’s focus, ambiguity about scope usually arises from the breadth of claim language—ranging from broad claims covering entire classes of compounds to narrow claims for specific molecular structures or methods.
Claim Type Breakdown:
- Product Claims: Cover specific chemical compounds or compositions.
- Use Claims: Cover methods of medical treatment employing the compound or formulation.
- Process Claims: Cover synthesis or manufacturing methods.
The scope's strength depends on how narrowly or broadly the claims are drafted. Broad claims provide extensive protection but are more susceptible to invalidation if prior art exists, while narrow claims limit protection but are easier to defend.
Claims Analysis
Sample Claim Types:
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Chemical Compound Claims:
Claims might specify the molecular structure of the active ingredient with particular substituents demonstrating improved pharmacological activity, such as increased bioavailability, reduced toxicity, or enhanced stability.
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Formulation Claims:
Claims could encompass specific carriers, excipients, or delivery mechanisms that stabilize or optimize the drug's release profile.
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Method of Use Claims:
Claims may specify treating certain diseases, such as cancers, neurological disorders, or infectious diseases, with the patented drug, emphasizing therapeutic applications.
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Manufacturing Method Claims:
Claims might describe synthesis pathways that improve yield, purity, or cost-effectiveness, providing non-obvious advantages.
Claim Features and Limitations:
- Novelty and Inventiveness: The claims must demonstrate differences over prior art, such as existing compounds or formulations.
- Scope Breadth: Wider claims can cover multiple compounds or formulations, but risk exposure to prior art challenges.
- Dependent Claims: These narrow the scope, adding specific details, which can be critical in legal disputes.
Potential Strategic Significance:
Claims that specify distinctive structural features or unique combinations generally provide more robust protection. Conversely, overly broad claims risk invalidation, especially if prior art anticipates the scope.
Patent Landscape Analysis
China’s Pharmaceutical Patent Environment:
China increasingly emphasizes innovation. The Chinese patent system allows pharmaceutical patents to be granted for new chemical entities, formulations, and methods, provided they meet novelty, inventive step, and industrial applicability criteria.
Prior Art and Similar Patents:
- Chemical Compound Patents: Large patent families exist for drug derivatives within therapeutic classes (e.g., kinase inhibitors, anti-inflammatory agents).
- Formulation Patents: Numerous patents cover controlled-release systems, nanoparticle carriers, and targeted delivery.
- Method of Use Patents: Widely utilized for expanding markets into new indications.
Patent CN110352058 is likely positioned within an existing crowded landscape, necessitating specificity in claims to secure enforceable rights.
Overlap with Existing Patents:
Potential overlaps include prior patents claiming similar structures or methods. A freedom-to-operate analysis, considering Chinese patent databases and international applications, is advisable for companies contemplating commercialization.
Patent Families and Related Applications:
This patent may be part of a broader family—possibly extensions, divisional, or continuation applications—covering incremental innovations, which extend protection and keep the innovation pipeline active.
Legal Status and Exportability:
The patent’s status (granted or pending) affects enforceability. Given China’s fast prosecution, it is essential to monitor validity status, oppositions, or invalidation proceedings.
Implications for Stakeholders
- Pharmaceutical Innovators: Need to analyze claim scope against existing patents to identify freedom-to-operate, design around strategies, or licensing opportunities.
- Generic Manufacturers: Must scrutinize whether claims effectively block generic entry or provide a narrow scope vulnerable to design-around efforts.
- Legal Entities: Should prepare for patent disputes by understanding the scope and weaknesses of CN110352058 claims.
- Researchers: Gain insights into current protected innovations to avoid infringement and seek licensing or collaborative opportunities.
Conclusion
Patent CN110352058 exemplifies China’s evolving landscape of pharmaceutical innovation, with its claims likely centered on novel compounds, formulations, or production methods. Its scope hinges on precise claim drafting—balancing broad protection with defensibility against prior art.
Understanding its legal boundaries aids strategic decision-making, including IP licensing, R&D direction, and competitive planning. Due diligence, including a detailed claim analysis and landscape search, remains paramount for entities operating within China’s dynamic pharmaceutical patent ecosystem.
Key Takeaways
- The scope of CN110352058 depends on claim language clarity and breadth, influencing its enforceability and commercial utility.
- Analyzing the patent within China's evolving legal framework requires understanding prior art, claim specifics, and related patent families.
- Strategic considerations should include assessing potential overlaps, freedom-to-operate, and avenues for design-around or licensing deals.
- Broad claims offer extensive protection but risk invalidation; narrow claims may limit leverage but increase defensibility.
- Regular monitoring of patent status and landscape changes is crucial to maintain competitive advantage and avoid infringement.
FAQs
1. How does CN110352058 compare to international patents in similar fields?
This patent’s scope and claims are tailored to China's legal landscape. While it may share similarities with international patents, differences in claim scope, claim language, and prosecution strategies can impact enforcement and licensing opportunities.
2. What is the typical lifespan of a drug patent in China?
In China, pharmaceutical patents are generally granted with a 20-year term from the filing date, subject to patent term adjustment and maintenance fees.
3. How can companies assess the patent landscape for similar drugs?
Conducting comprehensive patent searches in CNIPA’s database and reviewing related patent families worldwide provides insight into existing patents and gaps for innovation.
4. What strategies can be employed if CN110352058 blocks market entry?
Possible strategies include designing around the claims, challenging patent validity through prior art submissions, or negotiating licensing agreements.
5. Why is claim specificity vital in pharmaceutical patents?
Precise claims ensure enforceability, prevent easy workarounds, and delineate the scope of protection clearly, facilitating legal dispute resolution and licensing negotiations.
Sources:
[1] China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) official patent database.
[2] World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) PATENTSCOPE.
[3] State Council of China, Chinese Patent Law guidelines.
