Limitations of Patenting Traditional Chinese Medicine

Xuejiao Cao (Blake)

I. Introduction
The pandemic of COVID-19 has taken a tremendous toll on all of us, as the crisis has ravaged the world.  In China, Traditional Chinese Medicine (“TCM”) has played an important role in the treatment of COVID-19. On 19 August 2020, the General Office of National Health Commission together with the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine announced the Diagnosis and Treatment Plan for New Coronavirus Pneumonia (Trial Version 8)(“Plan”) .  In the Plan, these authorities acknowledged TCM’s contribution to curing Covid-19 patients. Just as the World Intellectual Property Organization (“WIPO”) has stipulated, “growing commercial and scientific interest in traditional medicine system has led to calls for traditional Read the rest