Background:
Protecting intellectual property rights are important and particularly pertinent for inventions which
are an outcome of rigorous research and development. While the grant of patents is subject to establishing novelty and
inventive step, it further indicates the technological development and helpful for researchers working in the same technical
domain. The aim of the present research work is to map the existing work through analysis of patent literature, in the field
of Coronaviruses (CoV), particularly COVID-19 (2019-nCoV). CoV is a large family of viruses known to cause illness in
human and animals, particularly known for causing respiratory infections as evidenced in earlier times such as in MERS i.e.
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome; SRS i.e. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. A recently identified novel-coronavirus
has known as COVID-19 which has currently caused pandemic situation across the globe.
Objective:
To expand analysis of patents related to CoV and 2019-nCoV. Evaluation has been conducted by patenting trends
of particular strains of identified CoV diseases by present legal status, main concerned countries via earliest priority years
and its assignee types and inventors of identified relevant patents. We analyzed the global patent documents to check the
scope of claims along with focuses and trends of the published patent documents for the entire CoV family including 2019-
nCoV through the present landscape.
Methods:
To extract the results, Derwent Innovation database is used by a combination of different key-strings.
Approximately 3800 patents were obtained and further scrutinized and analyzed. The present write-up also discusses the
recent progress of patent applications in a period of the year 2010 to 2020 (present) along with the recent developments in
India for the treatment options for CoV and 2019-nCoV.
Results:
Present analysis showed that key areas of the inventions have been focused on vaccines and diagnostic kits apart
from the composition for treatment of CoV. We also observed that no specific vaccine treatments is available for treatment
of 2019-nCov, however, developing novel chemical or biological drugs and kits for early diagnosis, prevention and disease
management is the primarily governing topic among the patented inventions. The present study also indicates potential
research opportunities for the future, particularly to combat 2019-nCoV.
Conclusion:
The present paper analyzes the existing patents in the field of Coronaviruses and 2019-nCoV and suggests a
way forward for the effective contribution in this upcoming research area. From the trend analysis, it was observed an increase in filing of the overall trend of patent families for a period of 2010 to the current year. This multifaceted analysis
of identified patent literature provides an understanding of the focuses on present ongoing research and grey area in terms
of the trends of technological innovations in disease management in patients with CoV and 2019-nCoV. Further, the findings
and outcome of the present study offer insights for the proposed research and innovation opportunities and provide
actionable information in order to facilitate policymakers, academia, research driven institutes and also investors to make
better decisions regarding programmed steps for research and development for the diagnosis, treatment and taking
preventive measures for CoV and 2019-nCoV. The present article also emphasizes on the need for future development and
the role of academia and collaboration with industry for speedy research with a rationale.
Patent highlights August–September 2020
