Liu Kunmeng, Zhang Xiaoming, Hu Yuanjia, Chen Weijie, Kong Xiangjun, Yao Peifen, Cong Jinyu, Zuo Huali, Wang Jian, Li Xiang, Wei Benzheng
Center for Medical Artificial Intelligence, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Qingdao, China.
Qingdao Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Qingdao, China.
Front Med (Lausanne). 2022 Jul 1;9:925369. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2022.925369. eCollection 2022.
Two years after COVID-19 came into being, many technologies have been developed to bring highly promising bedside methods to help fight this epidemic disease. However, owing to viral mutation, how far the promise can be realized remains unclear. Patents might act as an additional source of information for informing research and policy and anticipating important future technology developments. A comprehensive study of 3741 COVID-19-related patents (3,543 patent families) worldwide was conducted using the Derwent Innovation database. Descriptive statistics and social network analysis were used in the patent landscape. The number of COVID-19 applications, especially those related to treatment and prevention, continued to rise, accompanied by increases in governmental and academic patent assignees. Although China dominated COVID-19 technologies, this position is worth discussing, especially in terms of the outstanding role of India and the US in the assignee collaboration network as well as the outstanding invention portfolio in Italy. Intellectual property barriers and racist treatment were reduced, as reflected by individual partnerships, transparent commercial licensing and diversified portfolios. Critical technological issues are personalized immunity, traditional Chinese medicine, epidemic prediction, artificial intelligence tools, and nucleic acid detection. Notable challenges include balancing commercial competition and humanitarian interests. The results provide a significant reference for decision-making by researchers, clinicians, policymakers, and investors with an interest in COVID-19 control.
新冠疫情出现两年后，已研发出多种技术，带来了极有前景的床边检测方法以抗击这种流行性疾病。然而，由于病毒变异，这些前景能在多大程度上实现仍不明朗。专利或许可作为一种额外的信息来源，为研究和政策提供参考，并预测未来重要的技术发展。利用德温特创新数据库对全球3741项与新冠疫情相关的专利（3543个专利族）进行了全面研究。在专利态势分析中运用了描述性统计和社会网络分析。新冠疫情相关专利申请数量，尤其是与治疗和预防相关的申请数量持续上升，同时政府和学术专利受让人数量也在增加。尽管中国在新冠疫情技术方面占据主导地位，但这一地位值得探讨，特别是考虑到印度和美国在受让人合作网络中的突出作用以及意大利出色的发明组合。通过个体合作、透明的商业许可和多样化的专利组合可以看出，知识产权壁垒和种族主义待遇有所减少。关键技术问题包括个性化免疫、中医药、疫情预测、人工智能工具和核酸检测。显著的挑战包括平衡商业竞争和人道主义利益。研究结果为关注新冠疫情防控的研究人员、临床医生、政策制定者和投资者的决策提供了重要参考。
