Foreign patent applications cite Chinese patents in authority.

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So if you're going to drop trade barriers, maybe you can extend my patent rights to the foreign countries.

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By 2020, China intends to quadruple patent applications domestically and in foreign countries, a staggering number.

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But Novartis has argued that patent protection is necessary to reward foreign companies for the decades and billions of dollars that go into developing new drugs.

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Incredibly, it would create an appointed Board of Advisors, some of whom could be employed by companies -- foreign or domestic -- with a vested interest in Patent Office business.

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There are few votes in promoting the interests of foreign insurers and pharmaceutical firms, the most obvious beneficiaries of insurance and patent legislation.

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But he foresees a "revolution" in the Indian industry, including an influx of foreign investment in research and clinical testing--if the Indian government implements the patent law.

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In 2010, U.S.-based companies recaptured the lead for the total number of U.S. patents granted after falling behind foreign companies for the previous two years, according to rankings released yesterday by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services, a division of Fairview Research, of global companies awarded the most U.S. patents in 2010.

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What happens in America matters globally, since it is the world's leading patent office, approving about 170, 000 patents each year, half of which are granted to foreign applicants.

ECONOMIST: Intellectual property