Analysis of China's Efforts to Protect Medicinal Resources and the Intellectual Property Rights of Traditional Chinese Medicine - in light of the adoption of the Nagoya Protocol -

Objectives : In recent years, the Chinese Government has been providing full support aimed at promoting the excellence of Chinese culture, including Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), to the world after recognizing Chinese culture and medicine as elements that can generate national wealth.Methods : In investigating China's awareness of the issues surrounding the intellectual property rights of TCM, as well as its implementation of protective measures, this study analyzed the law and platform policies of the Chinese Government, as well as the designation status of China's intangible cultural heritages and the recent research trend in the TCM field.Results : First, China is taking various protective measures based on laws and institutional devices, including the Patent Act. Second, China is protecting the intellectual property rights of traditional Chinese medicines by registering them as Chinese intangible cultural heritages or UNESCO world heritages. Third, China is seeking to promote TCM throughout the wider world through various research and academic conferences, and by strengthening ties between nations.Conclusions : With the adoption of the international regimes of the WIPO and CBD, and particularly the Nagoya Protocol in 2010, China is seeking to implement measures aimed at maximizing the national interest based on the intellectual property rights of TCM. China began to implement a system of protection of medicinal resources and the related traditional knowledge after recognizing the potential crisis that could occur if Chinese medicine-related patents were taken over by foreign countries. As such, the system now takes various forms.