An Analysis of the Patents concerning Hevea brasiliensis

Xijuan LI，Qing CHEN，Bingjiang XU，Xinxin REN，Huasun HUANG*，Qiong LI*

Rubber Research Institute，CATAS，Danzhou 571737，China；2.Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences，Haikou 571101，China；3.China Center for Intellectual Property in Agriculture（CCIPA），CAAS，Beijing 100081，China

1 Introduction

Hevea brasiliensis（hereinafter referred to as the rubber tree）sharing a tree，or，most commonly，the rubber tree，isa tree belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae.It is themosteconomically importantmember of the genus Hevea.It is ofmajor economic importance because themilky latex extracted from the tree is the primary source of natural rubber.It is currently the only rubber-producing plant of commercial production value.Since the introduction of wild Hevea brasiliensis in 1876，the cause ofworld rubber cultivation has spanned nearly133 years.China began the introduction of Hevea brasiliensis in 1904，and now it has a cultivation history of 110 years［1］.Natural rubber has characteristics of strong elasticity，good insulation，plasticity and abrasion resistance，so it is widely used in industry，national defense，transportation，medical and health fields and daily life［2］.After nearly 60 years of development，China's rubber industry hasgained rapid developmentand China becomes theworld's fifth rubber producer.Ithasmade a series of achievements in terms of variety introduction and cultivation，breeding and selection，tapping technological innovation and early product processing，and won a number of national science and technology awards.In 2013，China's rubber planting area reached 1.195million ha and the yield was about0.86million t.A patent is a setof exclusive rightsgranted by a sovereign state to an inventor or assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for detailed public disclosure of an invention.An invention is a solution to a specific technological problem and is a product or a process.Patents are a form of intellectual property.Through the patent statistical analysis，we can identify the research capabilities，technical strength and innovation level in different countries and regions，track the evolution path of scientific research，and forecast the technology development trend.Patentstatisticalanalysis is being increasingly valued by researchers and business decision makers［3-5］.The crops for patent analysis mainly include soybeans，corn，transgenic rice，pumpkin，bitter gourd and other temperate crops［6-15］，and the patent analysis is not reported on tropical rubber tree.From the perspective of patent analysis，this paper performs a quantitative and qualitative analysis of patent literature concerning global and China's rubber tree，to reveal the application，patent type，geographical distribution and applicants over the past two decades.On thisbasis，this papermakes recommendations for the development of rubber industry from the perspective of protection of intellectual property.

2 Research data

In May2014，we retrieved data in China State Intellectual Property Office database，the European PatentOffice database，and Derwent patentdatabase.The retrievalmodel isas follows：（i）（rubber tree or Hevea OR Hevea brasiliensis）／TIOR（rubber tree or Hevea OR Hevea brasiliensis）／AB OR（rubber tree or Hevea OR Hevea brasiliensis）／CLM）AND（19920101 TO 20140430）／PD；（ii）（Hevea brasiliensis or rubber）／CLM or（Hevea brasiliensis or rubber）／FT.Retrieval time is from January 1，1992 to April 30，2014.A total of 1629 global patent applications about rubber tree were retrieved，including 765 domestic applications and 864 foreign applications.The target data after the screening for analysis are classified mainly based on IPC（International Patent Classification），supplemented by manual interpretation.The patents involved in this paper include patentof invention and patent for utilitymodels，and design patents are not included.

3 Global patent application

3.1 Application time distributionAs can be seen from Fig.1（a），the number of patent applications related to rubber tree fluctuated greatly during 1991-2013，but it showed a rising trend on the whole.Due to the impact of the 1998 Asian financial crisis and the 2008 global financial crisis，the number of patent applications related to rubber tree underwent two fluctuations，but it fluctuated ata high level.Due to the lagof patentapplication publication，the number of patentapplications decreased in 2013.As can be seen from the recent surge in the number of patent applications，the relevant scientific research on rubber tree has become evenmore active in the context of a high demand for natural rubber globally every year.

3.2 Study field distribution of patent applicationsAs can be seen from Fig.1（b），the fields thatpatentapplication involves mainly include germplasm，crop geneticsand breeding，crop cultivation and farming，plant protection，agricultural biotechnology，agriculturalmachinery，agro-processing，quality and safety of agricultural products，and natural product chemistry.The applications aremost in plant protection，followed by agricultural biotechnology and crop cultivation and farming，and these patentapplications account for 66%.This shows that these three areas are the hot spot of research related to rubber tree.

3.3 Distribution of patent application acceptance countries

The patent application is acceptedmainly in 50 countries or organizations.China，the United States，Japan and Europe aremost active in carrying out the research related to rubber tree，and they are also themain regionswhere applicants seek patent protection.The patent applications filed to these regions account for 87.17%of total global patent applications related to rubber tree.China's patentapplicationsaccount for 53.35%of total patent applications in these four target regions，showing that China has occupied the leading position in the patent application related to rubber tree，and patentapplicationsof the United States，Japan and Europe account for 9.97%，8.93%and 8.93%，respectively，as shown in Fig.1（c）.It can be found that there are 399 patent applications in the United States，Japan and Europe as non-traditional rubber planting regions，accounting for 27.83%of total applications，suggesting that they have a high degree of concern for the rubber industry.

4 China's patent application

4.1 App lication time distributionAs can be seen from Fig.2（a），before 2004，China's patent applications related to rubber tree weremaintained at a relatively low level，notmore than 20 per year.Since 2005，there has been a rapid increase in patent applications in China，and itwas affected by the global financial crisis，but the impact was limited due to National Intellectual Property Strategy introduced by the Chinese government and some supporting documents related to the rubber industry.A large number of research institutions，universities and businesses throw themselves into the rubber industry research，and the awareness of IPR protection has been significantly improved，resulting in soaring patent applications in China.By comparing Fig.1（a）and Fig.2（a），it can be found that the patent applications related to rubber tree athome and abroad show a similar trend especially after 2005.This proves that China's patent applications have been increasingly dominant in the field of study of rubber tree，and more foreign applicants choose China as the important patent application acceptance country to protect their own technology.Obviously，foreign applicants have attached great importance to China's natural rubbermarket.This is closely related to the development trend of China's tire industry in recent years［16］.

4.2 Study field distribution of patent applicationsAs can be seen from Fig.2（b），mostof the patentapplicationsare about plant protection，followed by crop cultivation and farming，and agricultural biotechnology and agro-processing.These patent applications account formore than 77.98%.By comparing Fig.1（b）and Fig.2（b），it can be found that the hot areas of research in rubber tree at home and abroad are basically identical，which shows that China's rubber tree research leads the global development.

4.3 App licant distributionTable 1 lists the applicants on China's rubber tree patents.As can be seen from the table，the applicants aremainly research institutions and enterprises.Mostof domestic applicants are research institutions whilemost of foreign applicants are enterprises.This shows that in recent years，the level of industrialization of China's rubber patent technology is low，and production is not closely linked with research.

Table 1 M ain patent app licants

5 China's invention patent application

Now there are a totalof587 patent invention applications related to rubber tree in China，accounting for93.47%of total applications.The domestic applicants account for 50.6%while the foreign applicants account for 49.4%.From the time distribution，foreign applicants'applicants fluctuated，and peaked in 2008；before 2006，domestic applicants'applicationswere at a very low level，less than five per year，but after 2007，it achieved rapid growth.It reached the highest value of49 in 2011 and 2012，as shown in Fig.3（a）.Due to the lag of patent application publication，the patent application data decreased in 2013.From the field of study，the domestic applicants are scattered，and the application is mainly about agro-processing，plant protection，agricultural biotechnology，and crop genetics and breeding.Foreign applicants'applications aremostly about plant protection，accounting formore than 68%of total applications，as shown in Fig.3（b）.From the type of applicants，enterprises are in a dominant position in the application.As for the domestic applicants，the proportion of teaching and research institutes is largest（59.76%）.The applicants in each profession vary.Teaching and research institutesare prominent in the area of agricultural biotechnology and agro-processingwhile enterprises and individuals hold a dominant position in the area of plant protection，as shown in Fig.3（c）.As for the foreign applicants，enterprises account for 89.49%of total applicants，and there are lessother three kindsof applicants，as shown in Fig.3（d）.Through the analysis，it can be found that different from the fact thatmajor foreign applicants are enterprises，China's major applicants are research institutions or universities and individuals，which indicates that China's rubber tree patent technology stays at the research stage，far from reaching industrialization.

6 Conclusions and recommendations

6.1 ConclusionsOver the past20 years，the global rubber patent application has showed an overall upward trend，confirming the rapid development of global natural rubber industry.From a global perspective，the applicants are mainly enterprises and research institutions，and the field of study is concentrated in plant protection，agricultural biotechnology，crop farming and cultivation.From a domestic perspective，rubber is a national strategic material，and China has attached importance to the natural rubber research in recent years，so that the research staff significantly increase awarenessof intellectual property rights，and are aware that intellectual property is an effectivemeans to protect scientific research results.During the Eleventh Five-Year Plan period，the average annual growth rate of rubber invention patent application in China reached 22.94%，and the average annual growth rate of applications of research institutesor universities reached 77.83%.Research institute has become an important partof China's natural rubber patent application，leading the global rubber tree research via its obvious advantage in plant protection，crop cultivation and farming and agro-processing.But we should clearly realize that from a global perspective，China's rubber industry still lags behind.China's patentapplication involves a number of research areas，and several areas are at the leading level，but from a global perspective，technology still lacksmarket competitiveness，and it does not form patent layout.China's rubber tree research is very active，but the patent applicants are mainly concentrated in research institutes or universities，and there are few enterprise applicants.

6.2 Recommendations

6.2.1Increasing investment in science and technology to promote the technological innovation in the rubber area.China should strengthen the technology research in the areasof rubber breeding，cultivation，processing andmachinery.Based on National Modern Agricultural Industry Technology System for Natural Rubber，it is necessary to focus on joint scientific and technological research to solve key technical problems，and strengthen innovation and protection of intellectual property rights to enhance competitive strength.

6.2.2Strengthening the patent layout.In the new development situation，China's applicantsneed to follow the developmentof the rubber industry to develop reasonable intellectual property strategy，and form a perfect system of patent protection.

6.2.3Raising awarenessof international patentapplication.China's researchers should intensify international patent application，to seize the technological high ground and expand the scope of patent protection.

6.2.4Strengthening Industry-Academia-Research.Domestic enterprises can strengthen cooperation with universities or research institutions to give full play to the role of Industry-Academia-Research，to jointly promote the industrialization of patented technologies.It is necessary to establish themodern industrial technology innovation system which combines industry，academia and research to promote industrial developmentand industrialupgrading.

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