Beijing Intellectual Property (IP) Courtaccepted 702 cases involving medical patents and concluded 447 cases from itsestablishment in 2014 to February this year, according to the court.

Of 251 cases related to chemical patents,172 involved foreign parties including Pfizer and other well-knownpharmaceutical companies, the court said.

China is an important pharmaceutical marketin the world, where global pharmaceutical enterprises compete with each otherin allocating resources and exploiting the market, among others, said SongYushui, deputy head of the court.

Song added the patent system is crucial tostimulate the impetus of pharmaceutical innovation. Medical inventors should beencouraged to obtain patent protection and earnings of research and developmentby disclosing their technical solutions, while they should also be preventedfrom abusing the patent system to form market monopolies and raise drug prices,according to Song.