Observations: Chinese traditional medicine should not be protected with "state secrets" 
 
 
April 15, 2014 07:48 

 
Source: Beijing news 

        Point of view 
 
 
        Recently, the yunnan baiyao company by citing state secrets, refused to release formulations again into a crisis of confidence. Last year, the state food and drug administration issued a request manufacturers released drug toxic ingredients of Chinese medicine, yunnan baiyao company then just released the formula in the toxic herbs kusnezoff monkshood, but declined to release the rest of the ingredients. 
 
 
        Chinese medicine is a part of Chinese traditional culture, at home, the government introduced a lot of laws and regulations to protect some well-known proprietary Chinese medicine formulations are not leaked. But when these proprietary Chinese medicine export, sold will set in the legal requirements for pharmaceutical products shall be published recipe, and foreign consumers right consciousness is stronger. So yunnan baiyao sold in the United States, it exposes all formula according to the local law. 
 
 
        The difference of Chinese and foreign, cause consumer complaint is sooner or later. Some people say that can be patented formula, the proposal does not have operability. According to the patent law, the technical requirements of novelty, to apply for a patent is supposed to be an unprecedented invention, but many of the traditional medicine formula created in the last century, does not have novelty; Second, the core technology invention patents must be public, protect the deadline for 20 years, after the patent is belong to all over society, who all can use. Western pharmaceutical firms have to adapt to the patent technology public and 20 years of protection, set up a rapid development and clinical trials, drug post-marketing patent protection period, and the price is sales business model, but for the emphasis on "ancestral secret recipe of traditional Chinese medicine", 20 year period is too short, unable to meet the requirements of protection for a long time. 
 
 
        In fact, according to the agreement on trade-related intellectual property rights in the international conventions and China's "anti-unfair competition law" regulation, yunnan baiyao formula constitute a commercial secret attribute completely, if similar coke cola to its core formula of protection way: by commercial secret formula ratio, process of core protection, but released basic raw materials formula, can to satisfy consumers' right to know, and protect the core process. 
 
 
        But at the moment, yunnan baiyao formula, has been through the national secret protection. In the formula is subject to public issues such as the secrecy laws and government departments issued multiple administrative regulations, rules and restrictions, even in the United States public formula, yunnan baiyao company oneself also can't release to the domestic consumers. 
 
 
        Era in the development, with the popularization of concept of consumers' right to know, the government and the Chinese traditional medicine companies, the "state secrets" give up use to protect the formula of tradition. 
 
 
        You yunting (intellectual property lawyer)