Agricultural patents

Though the Patent Law has been in place for over 20 years, Chinese agriculture-related enterprises are still weak in patent awareness, with half of the patent applicants coming from individuals and the number of commercial applications far below the international level, according to statistics from the State Intellectual Property Office.For example, pesticide production in China ranks second in the world following the United States, but from 1985 when Chinese Patent Law came into effect until the end of last October, among 6,752 domestic patent applications, individual applications accounted for 45 percent, universities and scientific institutions accounted for 37 percent and only 18 percent were from enterprises. Observers say the primary reason why agricultural-related enterprises have low patent awareness is that entrenched management lacks competitive consciousness, and entrepreneurs have not fully realized the role played by patents in market competition.

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