IPR protection needed for Chinese herbal medicines

 　　GUIYANG, April 26 (Xinhua) -- The extraordinary effects of Chinese herbal medicines have fueled foreign interest in launching research projects into the profitable and interesting field in recent years.

　　Xia Wen, director of the academic department of Guizhou Bailing¹ Group Pharmaceutical² Co., Ltd., was on alert during a dinner with some Korean friends who tried to get a line on herbal medicines from the Miao nationality.

　　Several years ago, a prescription³ for curing colds that had been passed down through generations of people of the Miao nationality went overseas and was eventually patented by foreign companies, Xia recalled.

　　Bailing Group, a privately-run, listed company based in southwest China's Guizhou province, focuses on the research and development of Miao medicines. The company sees an annual turnover⁴ of about 800 million yuan (127 million U.S. dollars).

　　As one of the four major production areas for Chinese medicine, Guizhou boasts more than 4,800 kinds of Chinese medicine, 28 of which are under national protection and account for 58.8 percent of all state-protected medicines in China.

　　Therefore, the pharmaceutical industry has developed rapidly and become a mainstay industry in Guizhou, which has been dubbed⁵ the "West Medicine Valley."

　　Statistics from the Guizhou Provincial⁶ Traditional Chinese Medicine Administrative⁷ Bureau show that about 1,000 herbal prescriptions⁸ from the Miao and Dong nationalities have been collected, but no more than 200 of them have been developed and put into production.

　　Meanwhile, some prescriptions have gradually disappeared, resulting in a huge loss for the country.

　　"Most of the Miao medicines are herbal, but research and development remains⁹ at a primary processing level," said Xia.

　　Chinese medicine companies have become aware of the need to apply intellectual property protection to their products since herbal medicines have attracted attention from foreign companies.

　　Bailing Group, Shenqi Group and Yibai Pharmaceutical Co.Ltd., the three major medicine companies in Guizhou, have been granted more than 200 patents to date.

　　"Patent protection has brought great profits to companies and accelerated their scientific and technological¹⁰ innovation. But vital information, such as the prescription and the ingredient list, has to be released at the same time," said Xia.

　　If foreign companies get the prescription or the ingredient of a herbal medicine with patent protection, they can imitate similar medicines without being blamed for patent infringement¹¹ since herbal medicine can be synthesized in various ways.

　　Moreover, western innovations in medicine have encountered great difficulties in recent years, so more and more western countries have started to cast their eyes on Chinese herbal medicine, according to Hu Songyu, director of the Guizhou Miao Medicine Pharmaceutical Engineering Center.

　　After a prescription is granted a patent and its contents are made public, other countries could use the base of the prescription to develop new medicines by using advanced technology, Xia said.

　　Therefore, not all new medicine is suitable for patent application. For example, the ingredient list of Yunnan Baiyao, a white powder from Yunnan that is used to treat open wounds, is under state secret-recipe protection, according to Xia.

　　Herbal medicines can survive for hundreds of years, whereas western medicines can be replaced within two decades, Hu said.

　　Meanwhile, plentiful¹² biological resources in Guizhou have provided numerous original materials for herbal medicine.

　　Xia Wen is involved in research on a new herbal medicine to treat menstrual cramps¹³. Having applied¹⁴ for patent registrations¹⁵ at home and abroad, his company plans to promote the medicine in the global market.

　　"Why not use the Chinese herbal medicine to relieve the pains of foreign women?" said Xia.

　　As more and more Chinese herbal medicines have popped up in western markets, an increasing number of foreigners have started to seek information about the Miao medicines, Xia said.

　　In response to this growing popularity overseas, the Chinese government issued a regulation on the protection of biological species resources in 2007, aiming to bring the country's biological species under control and protect them from loss by 2015 as herbal medicines mainly come from these biological species.

　　However, experts have warned that foreign researchers could obtain herbal medicine information via research centers and with the help of advanced technology even if they can not obtain the species themselves.

　　"We have warned our staff, especially the researchers in Bailing Group, to protect the herbal medicine resources," said Xia.

1 bailing   

（凿井时用吊桶）排水

参考例句：

• Both fountains were going furiously and both pumps bailing with might and main. 两个人的口水只管喷泉似地朝外涌，两个抽水机全力以赴往外抽水。
• The mechanical sand-bailing technology makes sand-washing operation more efficient. 介绍了机械捞砂的结构装置及工作原理，提出了现场操作注意事项。

2 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

3 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

4 turnover   

n.人员流动率，人事变动率；营业额，成交量

参考例句：

• The store greatly reduced the prices to make a quick turnover.这家商店实行大减价以迅速周转资金。
• Our turnover actually increased last year.去年我们的营业额竟然增加了。

5 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

7 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

8 prescriptions   

药( prescription的名词复数 )； 处方； 开处方； 计划

参考例句：

• The hospital of traditional Chinese medicine installed a computer to fill prescriptions. 中医医院装上了电子计算机来抓药。
• Her main job was filling the doctor's prescriptions. 她的主要工作就是给大夫开的药方配药。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

11 infringement   

n.违反；侵权

参考例句：

• Infringement of this regulation would automatically rule you out of the championship.违背这一规则会被自动取消参加锦标赛的资格。
• The committee ruled that the US ban constituted an infringement of free trade.委员会裁定美国的禁令对自由贸易构成了侵犯

12 plentiful   

adj.富裕的，丰富的

参考例句：

• Their family has a plentiful harvest this year.他们家今年又丰收了。
• Rainfall is plentiful in the area.这个地区雨量充足。

13 cramps   

n. 抽筋, 腹部绞痛, 铁箍 adj. 狭窄的, 难解的 v. 使...抽筋, 以铁箍扣紧, 束缚

参考例句：

• If he cramps again let the line cut him off. 要是它再抽筋，就让这钓索把它勒断吧。
• "I have no cramps." he said. “我没抽筋，"他说。

14 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

15 registrations   

n.登记( registration的名词复数 )；登记项目；登记（或注册、挂号）人数；（管风琴）音栓配合（法）

参考例句：

• In addition to the check-in procedures, the room clerks are customarily responsible for recording advance registrations. 除了办理住宿手续外，客房登记员按惯例还负责预约登记。 来自辞典例句
• Be the Elekta expert for products registrations in China. 成为在中国注册产品的医科达公司专家。 来自互联网