Search

O Brasil vem apresentando, nos últimos anos, uma produção científica bastante reconhecida no cenário internacional, nas mais diversas áreas do conhecimento, tomando por base o impacto de suas publicações em eventos de grande monta e, especialmente, em revistas indexadas de grande circulação. De outra forma, o país parece não caminhar na mesma direção quando se trata da produção tecnológica e da geração de riqueza a partir do desenvolvimento científico estabelecido e, particularmente, a partir da pesquisa científica aplicada. O presente trabalho abordou tal questão e discorreu acerca das principais semelhanças e diferenças entre um artigo científico e o texto de um pedido de patente, a fim de contribuir para um melhor entendimento dos dois tipos de documento, auxiliar os pesquisadores na escolha e seleção dos resultados com potencial tecnológico, decidir o que é adequado para fins de proteção industrial, bem como alavancar novas oportunidades de negócio para cada tecnologia criada. Brazil has been presenting in the last years a scientific production well-recognized in the international scenario, in several areas of knowledge, according to the impact of their publications in important events and especially in indexed journals of wide circulation. On the other hand, the country does not seem to be in the same direction regarding to the technological production and wealth creation from the established scientific development, and particularly from the applied research. The present paper covers such issue and discloses the main similarities and differences between a scientific paper and a patent application, in order to contribute to a better understanding of both types of documents and help the researchers to chose and select the results with technological potential, decide what is appropriated for industrial protection, as well as foster new business opportunities for each technology which has been created.

Most drugs that are currently prescribed in pediatrics have not been tested in children. Pediatric drug studies are stimulated in the USA by the pediatric exclusivity provision under the Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act (FDAMA) that grants patent extensions when pediatric labeling is provided. We investigated the effectiveness of these programs in stimulating drug research in children, thereby increasing the evidence for safe and effective drug use in the pediatric population. All drugs granted pediatric exclusivity under the FDAMA were analyzed by studying the relevant summaries of medical and clinical pharmacology reviews of the pediatric studies or, if these were unavailable, the labeling information as provided by the manufacturer. A systematic search of the literature was performed to identify drug utilization patterns in children. From July 1998 to August 2006, 135 drug entities were granted pediatric exclusivity. Most frequent drug groups were anti-depressants and mood stabilizers, ACE inhibitors, lipid-lowering preparations, HIV antivirals, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory and anti-rheumatic drugs. The distribution of the different drugs closely matched the distribution of these drugs over the adult market, and not the drug utilization by children. Many drug studies in children have been performed since the introduction of the FDAMA. However, children infrequently use the drugs granted pediatric exclusivity. The priorities for pediatric drug research should be set by the need of the patients, not by market considerations.

Background: For patients with diabetes, the self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) is a recommended way of controlling the blood glucose level. By leveraging the modern information and communication technology (ICT) and the corresponding infrastructure, engineers nowadays are able to merge the SMBG activities into daily life and to dramatically reduce patient’s burden. Such type of ICT-powered SMBG had already been marketed in the United States and the European Union for a decade, but was introduced into the Chinese market only in recent years. Although there is no doubt about the general need for such type of SMBG in the Chinese market, how it could be adapted to the local technical and operational environment is still an open question. Objective: Our overall goal is to understand the local requirements and the current status of deploying ICT-powered SMBG to the Chinese market. In particular, we aim to analyze existing domestic SMBG mobile apps and relevant domestic patents to identify their various aspects, including the common functionalities, innovative feature, defects, conformance to standards, prospects, etc. In the long run, we hope the outcome of this study could help the decision making on how to properly adapt ICT-powered SMBG to the Chinese market. Methods: We identified 289 apps. After exclusion of irrelevant apps, 78 apps remained. These were downloaded and analyzed. A total of 8070 patents related to glucose were identified from patent database. Irrelevant materials and duplicates were excluded, following which 39 patents were parsed to extract the important features. These apps and patents were further compared with the corresponding requirements derived from relevant clinical guidelines and data standards. Results: The most common features of studied apps were blood health data recording, notification, and decision supporting. The most common features of studied patents included mobile terminal, server, and decision supporting. The main difference between patents and apps is that the patents had 2 specific features, namely, interface to the hospital information system and recording personal information, which were not mentioned in the app. The other major finding is that, in general, in terms of the components of the features, although the features identified in both apps and patents conform to the requirements of the relevant clinical guidelines and data standards, upon looking into the details, gaps exist between the features of the identified apps and patents and the relevant clinical guidelines and data standards. In addition, the social media feature that the apps and patents have is not included in the standard requirements list. Conclusions: The development of Chinese SMBG mobile apps and relevant patents is still in the primitive stage. Although the functionalities of most apps and patents can meet the basic requirements of SMBG, gaps have been identified when comparing the functionalities provided by apps and patents with the requirements necessitated by the standards. One of the most important gaps is that only a small portion of the studied apps provides the automatic data transmission and exchange feature, which may hamper the overall performance. The clinical guidelines can thus be further developed to leverage new features provided by ICT-powered SMBG apps (eg, the social media feature, which may help to improve the social intervention of patients with diabetes). [JMIR Diabetes 2016;1(1):e2]

Artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as a technology at the center of many political, economic, and societal debates. This paper formulates a new AI patent search strategy and applies this to provide a landscape analysis of AI innovation dynamics and technology evolution. The paper uses patent analyses, network analyses, and source path link count algorithms to examine AI spatial and temporal trends, cooperation features, cross-organization knowledge flow and technological routes. Results indicate a growing yet concentrated, non-collaborative and multi-path development and protection profile for AI patenting, with cross-organization knowledge flows based mainly on interorganizational knowledge citation links.

Patent Citation Analysis has been gaining considerable traction over the past few decades. In this paper, we collect extensive information on patents and citations and provide a perspective of citation network analysis of patents from a statistical viewpoint. We identify and analyze the most cited patents, the most innovative and the highly cited companies along with the structural properties of the network by providing in-depth descriptive analysis. Furthermore, we employ Exponential Random Graph Models (ERGMs) to analyze the citation networks. ERGMs enables understanding the social perspectives of a patent citation network which has not been studied earlier. We demonstrate that social properties such as homophily (the inclination to cite patents from the same country or in the same language) and transitivity (the inclination to cite references’ references) together with the technicalities of the patents (e.g., language, categories), has a significant effect on citations. We also provide an in-depth analysis of citations for sectors in patents and how it is affected by the size of the same. Overall, our paper delves into European patents with the aim of providing new insights and serves as an account for fitting ERGMs on large networks and analyzing them. ERGMs help us model network mechanisms directly, instead of acting as a proxy for unspecified dependence and relationships among the observations.

Who invents medicines for the poor of the world? This question becomes very important where the WTO allows low income countries to be unbound by the TRIPS agreement.This agreement concerns medicines for infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. These diseases cause serious damage to low income countries. Under these circumstances, some scholars wonder if anyone will continue innovative activities related to treating these diseases.This paper sought to answer this question by collecting and analyzing patent data of medicines and vaccines for diseases using the database of the Japan Patent Office. Results indicate that private firms have led in innovation not only for global diseases such as HIV/AIDS but also diseases such as malaria that are spreading exclusively in low income countries.Innovation for the three infectious diseases is diverse among firms, and frequent patent applications by high-performing pharmaceutical firms appear prominent even after R&D expenditure, economies of scale, and economies of scope are taken into account.

Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer among women worldwide. However, increased survival is due to the dramatic advances in the screening methods, early diagnosis, and breakthroughs in treatments. Over the course of the last decade, many acquisitions have taken place in this critical field of research in the pharmaceutical industry. Advances in molecular biology and pharmacology aided in better understanding of breast cancer, enabling the design of smarter therapeutics able to target cancer and respond to its microenvironment efficiently. Patents and research papers investigating diagnosis and treatment strategies for breast cancer using novel technologies have been surveyed for the past 15 years. Various nanocarriers have been introduced to improve the therapeutic efficacy of anticancer drugs, including liposomes, polymeric micelles, quantum dots, nanoparticles, and dendrimers. This review provides an overview of breast cancer, conventional therapy, novel technologies in the management of breast cancer, and rational approaches for targeting breast cancer.HighlightsBreast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide. However, survival rates vary widely, optimistically heading toward a positive trend. Increased survival is due to the drastic shift in the screening methods, early diagnosis, and breakthroughs in treatments. Different strategies of breast cancer classification and staging have evolved over the years. Intrinsic (molecular) subtyping is essential in clinical trials and well understanding of the disease. Many novel technologies are being developed to detect distant metastases and recurrent disease as well as to assess response to breast cancer management. Intensive research efforts are actively ongoing to take novel breast cancer therapeutics to potential clinical application. Most of the recent research papers and patents discuss one of the following strategies: the development of new drug entities that specifically target the breast tumor cells; tailor designing a novel carrier system that can multitask and multifunction as a drug carrier, targeting vehicle and even as a diagnostic tool, direct conjugation of a therapeutic drug moiety with a targeting moiety, diagnostic moiety or pharmacokinetics altering moiety; or the use of innovative nontraditional approaches such as genetic engineering, stem cells, or vaccinations.

This paper seeks to set the practical discipline of public interest intellectual property (IP) management in public health into its broader policy context. The most immediate and direct impact of IP systems on public welfare results not from international standards nor from national legislation – though these norms are fundamentally important - but rather from the accumulated impact of numerous practical choices whether or not to seek IP protection; where and where not; and how any exclusive rights are deployed, by whom, and to what end. IP management is the essentially practical exercise of limited exclusive rights over protected subject matter, the judicious use of those rights to leverage outcomes that advance an institution's or a firm's objectives. Exclusive rights are used to construct and define knowledge-based relationships, to leverage access to technology and other necessary resources, and to enhance market-based incentives. IP management choices range across a broad spectrum, spanning public domain strategies, open or exclusive licensing, and strong exclusivity. The idea of ‘exclusive rights’, as a specific legal mechanism, can run counter to expectations of greater openness and accessibility, but actual outcomes will depend very much on how these mechanisms are used in practice. For public interest or public sector institutions concerned with health research and development, particularly the development of new medicines, IP management choices can be just as critical as they are for private firms, although a predominant institutional concentration on advancing direct public interest objectives may lead to significantly different approaches in weighing and exercising practical choices for IP management: even so, a private sector approach should not be conflated with exclusivity as an end in itself, nor need public interest IP management eschew all leverage over IP. This paper offers a tentative framework for a richer typology of those choices, to give a sense of practical options available and the factors that might guide their application, but without advocating any particular approach. usc Refereed/Peer-reviewed

More than a third of the world's population has no access to essential drugs. More than half of this group of people live in the poorest regions of Africa and Asia. Several factors determine the accessibility of drugs in developing countries. Hardly any medicines for tropical diseases are being developed, but even existing drugs are often not available to the patients who need them. One of the important determinants of access to drugs is the working of the patent system. This paper first maps out some facts about the global patent regime that has emerged as a consequence of the conclusion of the WTO-TRIPs Agreement in 1994. Attempts to construct a moral justification of the patent system have been based on three grounds: natural rights, distributive justice, and utilitarian arguments. This paper examines to what extent and on which grounds drug patents can be justified. The final section looks at the so-called 'Doha Declaration on the TRIPs Agreement and Public Health', which was adopted by the WTO Ministerial Conference two years ago, recognising the primacy of public health over the interests of patent proprietors.

The COVID-19 virus pandemic had a drastic impact on the social lives of billions of people, hitting certain industries like a hurricane. What the answer will be to this and possible other occurrences of pandemics in the future will largely depend on the inventiveness of the researchers. Intellectual property is the first system to offer answers, opening patent bases to anyone developing new technologies to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The need for the means of prevention, treatment, and care has caused thousands of different researches, which find inspiration and guidance for discovering new solutions in patents that already exist. Publication of scientific papers has never been so intense in any scientific field as in medicine since the fight against this virus began. The time since the beginning of the virus pandemic has shown that science and innovators are ready for such challenges, but the global health crisis has imposed a new challenge on the intellectual property system, which refers to the strict implementation of its rights at times when rapid and global effect is needed in order to avoid additional deterioration due to further circulation of the virus among the population, which inevitably leads to the emergence of new strains of the virus.

Pharmaceuticals are essential to achieve health outcomes, but are at the same time a major cost factor in every health system. From a patient perspective, access to pharmaceuticals is a proxy for the functioning of the health system. With increasing economic strength, patients become more demanding with regard to access to modern, sophisticated drugs and providers become more aggressive in marketing those drugs. This paper reflects the situation in the pharmaceutical sector in Turkey, identifies critical issues, and discusses policy options based on current trends and the overall policy objectives of the Turkish government. This paper is structured as follows: chapter one gives introduction; chapter two gives overall policy objectives in the pharmaceutical sector in Turkey; chapter three presents institutional and regulatory framework; chapter four presents reimbursement rules; chapter five focuses on governance issues in the pharmaceutical sector; chapter six gives market overview; chapter seven gives payment for pharmaceuticals in Turkey; chapter eight presents prescribing practices - rational use of medicines; and chapter nine gives conclusions and way forward.

Available online 8 November 2021 The introduction of the fifth generation of mobile technology (5G) is expected to bring disruptive changes. These changes will be much more pervasive than any previous introduction of new mobile ‘generations’ and they are expected to influence the whole economy. For this reason, the global rush for 5G technology is not only considered crucial in economic or technological terms, but also for its implications in terms of geopolitics, international policy and national security. This paper presents an analysis of the patents in the most relevant fields of specialization connected to the 5G development. The period under investigation is from 2010 to 2019, and the data are extracted from the European Patent Office (EPO) and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) database. The analysis shows how the technologies and the specialisations needed to develop 5G are in the hands of a few countries around the globe, and how single European countries, taken in isolation, are not among those leading players. However, Europe, considered as a whole, competes well with the US and Asia in terms of patented innovations, suggesting the economic and strategic relevance of strengthening cooperation within the EU.

How to promote and improve the level of urban innovation cooperation is a major issue in China’s current high-quality economic development. Thus, enhancing innovation ability is essential to achieving high-quality economic growth under the "new normal". Based on the data of Chinese invention patents from 1985 to 2017, this paper analyzes the characteristics of China’s urban innovation cooperation network and the different roles of proximity by using social network analysis and exploratory spatial data analysis methods. The analysis results show that: (1) On the whole, the development of China’s urban innovation cooperation network is characterized by stages (initial development stage, rapid development stage, and gradual decline stage); The urban innovation cooperation network has strong connectivity and centripetal concentration but its imbalance needs to be further improved; The degree of urban participation has gradually increased, consolidating the stability of the network structure. (2) The centrality of urban innovation cooperation network has obvious characteristics of administrative center orientation, coastal areas orientation, and ‘strong east and weak west’; Beijing is the center and bridge of the network, and the network flattening characteristics are obvious; A hierarchical ‘core-edge’ structure is gradually formed for the urban innovation cooperation network, and the pyramid structure with Beijing standing at the top is being consolidated. (3) The geographical proximity presents a significant global spatial positive correlation, while the network proximity and pure network proximity have a more significant global spatial negative correlation; The local spatial autocorrelation of China’s urban innovation cooperation system based on network proximity is more obvious and identifiable than that based on the geographical proximity, which better reflects the new development model of "relationship economy".

Plectranthus amboinicus (Loureiro) Sprengel is popularly known as malvariço or indian borage. This paper carries out the technological prospecting of this species with an emphasis on its biological activities. The research consisted of an integrative literature review based on information collected from patent and electronic databases. Initially, 3019 results were obtained, which, after the screening, selection and analysis process, resulted in 55 articles and 48 patent documents. It was found that 77.08% (n=37) of patent deposits refer to obtaining or improving the process and 22.92% (n=11) to the finished product related to the following indications: wound healing, mainly in diabetics, followed by treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, hepatocellular carcinomas, breast cancer and melanoma, treatment for acne caused by P. acnes, S. aureus and P. aeruginosa, oral cavity cleansing agent, treatment for osteoporosis, nutraceutical composition for lactation and insect repellent. In the databases of scientific articles, 55 documents were selected, proving the following actions: antimicrobial, antioxidant, anticarcinogenic, anti-inflammatory, diuretic, nephroprotective, larvicide, analgesic, veterinary food additive, anti-leishmania, antipsoriasis, antidiarrheal, antidiabetic, hepatoprotective and anthelmintic. The scientific studies analyzed reaffirm other actions reported in popular use, but which are not described in the patent processes. Therefore, there are many proven biological properties of P. amboinicus that should be further explored and exploited in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food sectors in order to generate new products and patents. Plectranthus amboinicus (Loureiro) Sprengel se conoce popularmente como malvariço o borraja india. Esta investigación realiza la prospección tecnológica de esta especie con énfasis en sus actividades biológicas. La investigación consistió en una revisión integradora de la literatura basada en información recopilada de bases de datos de patentes y bases de datos eletrónicas. Inicialmente se obtuvieron 3019 expedientes que, luego del proceso de cribado, selección y análisis dieron como resultado 55 artículos y 48 documentos de patente. Se encontró que el 77.08% (n=37) de los depósitos de patentes se refieren a la obtención o mejora del proceso y el 22.92% (n=11) al producto terminado con las siguientes indicaciones: cicatrización de heridas principalmente en pacientes diabéticos, seguida de tratamiento de artritis reumatoide, carcinomas hepatocelulares, cáncer de mama y melanoma, tratamiento del acne por P. acnes, S. aureus y P. aeruginosa, agente limpiador de la cavidad oral, tratamiento para la osteoporosis, composición nutracéutica para la lactancia y repelente de insectos. En las bases de datos de artículos científicos se seleccionaron 55 documentos, comprobando las siguientes acciones: antimicrobiano, antioxidante, anticancerígeno, antiinflamatório, diurético, nefroprotector, larvicida, analgésico, aditivo alimentario veterinario, antileishmanial, antipsoriasis, antidiarreico, antidiabético, hepatoprotector y antihelmíntico. Los estudios científicos analizados reafirman otras acciones reportadas de uso popular que no están descritas en los procesos de patente. Por lo tanto, existen muchas propiedades biológicas comprobadas de P. amboinicus que deberían explorarse y explotarse más a fondo en los sectores farmacéutico, cosmético y alimentrio para generar nuevos productos y patentes. Plectranthus amboinicus (Loureiro) Sprengel é popularmente conhecida como malvariço ou indian borage. Esta pesquisa realiza a prospecção tecnológica desta espécie com ênfase em suas atividades biológicas. A pesquisa consistiu em uma revisão integrativa de literatura baseada em informações coletadas em bancos de dados de patentes e bases de dados eletrônicas. Obteve-se inicialmente 3019 arquivos, que após processo de triagem, seleção e análise, resultaram em 55 artigos e 48 documentos de patentes. Constatou-se que 77.08% (n=37) dos depósitos de patentes referem-se a obtenção ou melhoramento de processo e 22.92% (n=11) à produto acabado relacionados as seguintes indicações: cicatrização de ferimentos principalmente em pacientes diabéticos, seguido de tratamento de artrite reumatoide, carcinomas hepatocelular, câncer de mama e melanoma, tratamento para acne causada por P. acnes, S. aureus e P. aeruginosa, agente de limpeza da cavidade oral, tratamento para osteoporose, composição nutracêutica para lactação e repelente de insetos. Nas bases de dados de artigos científicos selecionaram-se 55 documentos, comprovando-se as seguintes ações: antimicrobiana, antioxidante, anticarcinogênica, antiinflamatória, diurética, nefroprotetora, larvicida, analgésica, aditivo alimentar de uso veterinário, anti-leishmania, antipsoríase, antidiarreica, antidiabética, hepatoprotetora e antihelmíntica. Os estudos científicos analisados reafirmam outras ações relatadas no uso popular, mas que não estão descritas nos processos de patentes. Portanto, existem muitas propriedades biológicas comprovadas de P. amboinicus que devem ser mais exploradas e aproveitadas nas áreas farmacêutica, de cosméticos e de alimentos visando a geração de novos produtos e patentes.

This paper tells the early history of penicillin patenting in Spain. Patents turn out to be useful instruments for analysing the management of knowledge and its circulation in different professional and geographical domains. They protected knowledge while contributing to standardisation. Patents also ensured quality and guaranteed reliability in manufacturing, delivering and prescribing new drugs. They gained special prominence by allowing the creation of a network in which political, economic and business, industrial power, public health and international cooperation fields came together. The main source of information used for this purpose has been the earliest patent applications for penicillin in Spain between 1948 and 1950, which are kept in the Historical Archives of the Oficina Española de Patentes y Marcas. The study of these patents for penicillin shows their role as agents in introducing this drug in Spain., Part of the research has been funded by the National Research plan project «Pensamiento científico y experimentación: desarrollo de la instrumentación y las disciplinas biológicas y biomédicas» (HUM2006- 04939/FISO) and by the Intramural Project «Biograf ía de una patente» (CSIC 2008101002)

International openness can affect regional innovation through more export opportunities, enhanced import competition and the spillover effects of foreign direct investment. Many studies have been conducted based on different countries for capturing the determinants of regional innovation, but very little literature is available with contradictory findings for the case of China. Based on 19 years’ panel data of 31 Chinese provinces, this paper analyzes the impact of international openness on regional innovation measured by the number of patent grants. The positive effects of overall trade and a higher proportion of exports and imports to GDP are significant and robust across different model specifications, indicating that an increase in international openness can promote regional innovating activities in China. The causal relationship of all the variables depicted by path analysis matches the results of the system GMM model. Higher intellectual property protection provides each region with the opportunity to obtain economic benefits from innovation and then make a higher investment in R&D activities. Besides, the lag effect of regional innovation capability can also explain a large part of local innovating activities. In our subsample regressions, the positive effect of trade openness on innovation is majorly manifested in developed areas like eastern provinces.

Investments in research and development (R&amp, D) and innovation are expensive, and one wishes to be assured that there is positive feedback and to receive guidance on how to direct investments in the future. The social or economic benefits of investments in R&amp, D are of particular interest to policymakers. In this regard, public expense in research, especially through universities, is sometimes being questioned. This paper establishes a measure of how research in Spain, and specifically in its universities, is involved. In this study, we have analyzed all the literature cited in the period 1998&ndash, 2018 produced by Spanish institutions and which has been cited in at least one international patent, obtaining more than 40,000 publications from more than 160,000 different authors. The data have been surprisingly positive, showing that practically all public universities contribute to this subject and that there is a great deal of international collaboration, both in terms of the number of countries with which they collaborate and the prestige of the institutions involved. Regarding the specific scientific fields in which this collaboration is most relevant, biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology, and medicine together account for almost 40% of the total works. The topics most used by these publications were those of diseases or medical problems such as: Neoplams, Carcinoma, Alzheimer Disease, or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1). Oncology was according to the All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) the leading and central issue. Therefore, although the result of basic research is difficult to quantify, when it is observed that there is a return in fields such as medicine or global health, it can be said that it is well employed. In terms of journals from a purely bibliometric point of view, it has been observed that some journals do not have a great impact or relative position within their categories, but they do have a great relevance in this area of patent support. Therefore, it would be worthwhile to set up a rank for scientific journals based on the citations of patents, so the percentage of articles cited in patents with Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) &gt, 1, and as an indicator of scientific transfer from universities or research centres, the transference index in patents (TIP) is also proposed.

This paper takes new energy vehicles as the research object, building the technical cooperation innovation network of new energy vehicles based on the patent perspective by establishing the related technology patent search expression, and analyzing the processes of the invulnerability and optimization in the actual technology cooperation innovation network by using the simulation analysis method. The research results show that the harmfulness of the degree value priority attack in the technical cooperation innovation network of new energy vehicles is stronger than the weighted degree value priority attack and random attack, and the attacks of the State Grid and other hub nodes have an important impact on the network invulnerability. During the network optimization process of three types of connection preferences, the “weak”-“weak” connection is the best connection mode given the situation of an unweighted network without considering the weight of the connected edge. However, the “strong”-“weak” connection is the best mode given the situation of a weighted network considering the weight of the connected edge. In addition, compared with the weighted network situation, the “strong”-“weak” connection has better network optimization results given the situation of an unweighted network. Finally, we propose counter measures and suggestions to promote the innovation network invulnerability capabilities of technical cooperation in new energy vehicles.

This paper introduces a measure of the proximity in ideas using unsupervised machine learning. Knowledge transfers are considered a key driving force of innovation and regional economic growth. I explore knowledge relationships by deriving vector space representations of a patent’s abstract text using Document Vectors (Doc2Vec), and using cosine similarity to measure their proximity in ideas space. I illustrate the potential uses of this method with an application to geographic localization in knowledge spillovers. For patents in the same technology field, their normalized text similarity is 0.02-0.05 S.D.s higher if they are located within the same city, compared to patents from other cities. This effect is much smaller than when knowledge transfers are measured using normalized patent citations: local patents receive about 0.23-0.30 S.D.s more local citations than compared to non-local control patents. These findings suggest that the effect of geography on knowledge transfers may be much smaller than the previous literature using citations suggests.

Objective There is a huge technology gap between regions in Chinese pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, which is the reality that must be faced. However, most of the available researches on innovation efficiency are based on the logic of a given technology level, ignoring the regional technological gap. This paper will stand from the perspective of technology gap and re-examine the innovation efficiency of pharmaceutical manufacturing industry in different regions of China and its impact on regional industrial competitiveness. Methods We use the DEA-BCC input-oriented model to measure innovation efficiency of 28 provinces from the data of China's pharmaceutical manufacturing industry. The threshold model is constructed, with technology level as the threshold variable, innovation efficiency as the main explanatory variable, and industrial competitiveness as the dependent variable. In the threshold model, 28 regions are divided into three technical groups, and further, the impact of innovation efficiency on industrial competitiveness in different groups is analyzed and compared. Results According to the empirical research results, an U-shaped efficiency trap has been found in Chinese pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, and the areas with medium technical level are at the bottom of the trap. The improvement of innovation efficiency does not necessarily promote the improvement of regional industrial competitiveness. Only in high-level and low-level technology groups, innovation efficiency has effectively promoted the improvement of industrial competitiveness. In addition, the intensity of R&D investment has a similar impact on industrial competitiveness. Conclusions The findings suggest that, regions in the efficiency trap should strive to seek opportunities for industrial transformation and focus on the industrial transformation of new technology, new industry and new opportunities, instead of blindly pursuing R&D investment intensity and superstitious innovation efficiency. So as to free up innovation resources for high-quality technological innovation in other regions. In addition, the Chinese government should make use of its public hospital system to normalize and expand the centralized drug procurement and eliminate the low-quality innovation.

Background The recent Zika virus (ZIKAV) epidemics disclosed a major public health threat and a scientific and technological (S&T) challenge. The lessons learned from the S&T response of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) countries are critical to inform further research and guide scientific investments. The present study aimed to assess how new S&T knowledge produced and disseminated regionally can contribute to address global health challenges. Methods Scientometric and social network analysis methods were used to assess the LAC scientific contribution and potential technological development on ZIKAV up to December 2017. ZIKAV-related publications were retrieved from the Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed databases. Regionally published articles were obtained from SciELO (Scientific Electronic Library Online) and LILACS (Literature in the Health Sciences in Latin America and the Caribbean) databases. Patent registries were retrieved using Orbit Intelligence and Derwent Innovation. Records from each database were individually downloaded, integrated, standardized and analyzed. Results We retrieved 5421 ZIKAV-related publications, revealing a sharp increase from 2015 onwards. LAC countries accounted for 20% of all publications and Brazil was among the top three most central countries in the global network for ZIKAV research. A total of 274 patent families backed up by experimental evidence were retrieved. Only 5% were filed by LAC assignees, all of them based in Brazil. The largest contribution of LAC research was on the clinical manifestations of the ZIKAV infection, along with vector control, which was also the main focus of patents. Conclusions Our analysis offered a comprehensive overview of ZIKAV’s research and development and showed that (i) LAC countries had a key role in generating and disseminating scientific knowledge on ZIKAV; (ii) LAC countries have expressively contributed to research on ZIKAV clinical manifestations; (iii) the Brazilian scientific community was potentially very effective in knowledge sharing and diffusion in the ZIKAV research network; (iv) Brazil was the single LAC country filing patents, mostly represented by independent inventors and low-tech patents. The paper advocates the need for a continued interdisciplinary approach to improve LAC countries ability to prevent, prepare for and control future outbreaks. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-019-6842-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The innovation value chain is an effective tool for analysing innovation activities and reflects the process of value creation and increase in innovation activities. From the perspective of innovation value chains, we divided patent innovation activities into three stages: knowledge innovation stage, applied research stage and patent commercialization stage. The panel data from 64 universities directly managed by the Ministry of Education from 2009 to 2017 were used and several conclusions were drawn: 1) In the initial stage of knowledge innovation, the fundamental research fund plays a crucial promoting role, and knowledge innovation achievements are mainly published academic papers. 2) In the applied research stage, the knowledge innovation in the early stage and the fund investment in R&D activities have a significant positive effect on the patent output of universities, but the personnel investment has a negative effect. 3) In the final stage of patent commercialization, preliminary research results have a positive impact on patent commercialization, whose marginal effect depends on the industry-university-research relationship, external competition and reputation of the university. The evidence showed that there is a feedback channel between university patent commercialization and knowledge innovation, and new knowledge generated by the interaction with the outside world in the process of patent commercialization was transmitted to the subject of knowledge innovation through this channel, forming a virtuous dynamic cycle. By analysing the driving factors of the value chain of patent innovation in colleges and universities, we provided empirical evidence for the operation mechanism and policy formulation of college patents in China.

Background “Neglected Tropical Diseases” (NTDs) affect millions of people in Africa, Asia and South America. The two primary ways of strategic interventions are “preventive chemotherapy and transmission control” (PCT), and “innovative and intensified disease management” (IDM). In the last 5 years, phenomenal progress has been achieved. However, it is crucial to intensify research effort into NTDs, because of the emerging drug resistance. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the term NTDs covers 17 diseases, namely buruli ulcer, Chagas disease, dengue, dracunculiasis, echinococcosis, trematodiasis, human African trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis, leprosy, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, rabies, schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminthes, taeniasis, trachoma, and yaws. The aim of this study is to map out research and development (R&D) landscape through patent analysis of these identified NTDs. To achieve this, analysis and evaluation have been conducted on patenting trends, current legal status of patent families, priority countries by earliest priority years and their assignee types, technological fields of patent families over time, and original and current patent assignees. Main body Patent families were extracted from Patseer, an international database of patents from over 100 patent issuing authorities worldwide. Evaluation of the patents was carried out using the combination of different search terms related to each identified NTD. In this paper, a total number of 12,350 patent families were analyzed. The main countries with sources of inventions were identified to be the United States (US) and China. The main technological fields covered by NTDs patent landscape are pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, organic fine chemistry, analysis of biological materials, basic materials chemistry, and medical technology. Governmental institutions and universities are the primary original assignees. Among the NTDs, leishmaniasis, dengue, and rabies received the highest number of patent families, while human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), taeniasis, and dracunciliasis received the least. The overall trend of patent families shows an increase between 1985 and 2008, and followed by at least 6 years of stagnation. Conclusion The filing pattern of patent families analyzed undoubtedly reveals slow progress on research and development of NTDs. Involving new players, such as non-governmental organizations may help to mitigate and reduce the burden of NTDs. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12992-017-0306-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

This paper aims to investigate whether the morality of a duty imposed by the current patent system is appropriate to its aspiration to promote innovation, especially in the case of research and development (R&D) of new therapeutic products for neglected diseases. Stemming from an analytical and empirical approach, this investigation is based on descriptive inferences, which are built in accordance with indirect data collection and guided by Epstein and King’s rules of inference. The theoretical framework applied to interpret the data collection was extracted from Bankowski’s distinction between the morality of a duty and the morality of aspiration in the act of interpreting a rule. Firstly, it is possible to infer the insufficiency in following the duties imposed by the current patent legal system in order to promote innovation in the case of neglected diseases. Secondly, it is inferable from the collected data that, even within the multiple groups of neglected diseases, there is a hierarchy among those maladies, which emphasize the importance of considering their particularities in the process of elaborating public polices and interpreting the current patent legal system. Finally, it is also possible to conclude that the research and development of new therapeutic products for all kinds of diseases have not mirrored real public health needs., A presente pesquisa se propõe a investigar se o cumprimento dos deveres impostos pelo sistema jurídico de patentes está em consonância com sua aspiração de incentivar a inovação no que concerne à pesquisa e ao desenvolvimento (P&D) de produtos destinados ao combate das doenças negligenciadas. Essa investigação configura-se como um diagnóstico empírico preliminar sustentado por inferências descritivas, formuladas a partir da coleta indireta de dados e guiadas pelas regras de inferência de Epstein e King. O substrato teórico utilizado é composto pela interação entre a moralidade da aspiração e a moralidade do dever, de acordo com a perspectiva teórica de Bankowski. Desse modo, em primeiro lugar, é possível inferir que o cumprimento dos deveres impostos pelo atual modelo de exclusividade tem se mostrado insuficiente para incentivar a inovação no caso específico das doenças negligenciadas. Em segundo lugar, verifica-se que, mesmo dentro do grupo dessas enfermidades, algumas delas podem ser consideradas mais negligenciadas do que outras, podendo demandar tratamentos diferenciados, no que diz respeito à operacionalização do sistema jurídico de patentes e à elaboração de políticas públicas. Finalmente, constata-se que a pesquisa e o desenvolvimento de produtos destinados ao combate das doenças em geral são motivados por interesses diversos das demandas da saúde pública.