(Approved by the State Council
on December 12, 1992 and promulgated by the State
Pharmaceutical Administration on December 19, 1992)
CHAPTER I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1. These
Regulations are enacted with a view to expanding
economic and technological cooperation and exchange
with foreign coun-tries, providing administrative
protection to the lawful rights and inter-ests of
the owners of the exclusive right of foreign pharmaceuticals.
Article 2.
The "pharmaceuticals", as mentioned in
these Regulations, refers to medicines for human
beings.
Article 3. Enterprises
and other organizations and individuals from the
country or the region, which has concluded bilateral
treaty or agree-ment with the People's Republic
of China on administrative protection of pharmaceuticals,
may apply for administrative protection of pharmaceuticals
in accordance with these Regulations.
Article 4. The
competent authorities for the production and distribu-tion
of pharmaceuticals under the State Council receives
and examines applications for administrative protection
of pharmaceuticals, grants ad-ministrative protection
to the pharmaceuticals which conform with the provisions
of these Regulations, and issues the certificates
for administra-tive protection to applicants.
CHAPTER II
APPLICATION FOR ADMINISTRATIVE
PROTECTION
Article 5. A
pharmaceutical which can be applied for administrative
protection shall meet the following requirements:
(1) was not subject to protection by exclusive
rights in accordance with the provisions of the
China's Patent Law prior to January 1, 1993;
(2) is subject to an exclusive right to prohibit
others from making, us-ing or selling it in the
country to which the applicant belongs, which
was granted after January 1, 1986 and before January
1, 1993;
(3) has not been marketed in China prior to the
date of filing the ap-plication for administrative
protection.
Article 6. The
right of applying for administrative protection
of pharmaceuticals belongs to the owner of the
exclusive right of the pharmaceutical.
Article 7.
Where an owner of the exclusive right of a foreign
pharmaceutical applies for administrative protection,
he or it shall ap-point an agency designated by
the competent authorities for the produc-tion
and distribution of pharmaceuticals under the
State Council to act as his or its agent.
Article 8.
An applicant shall provide the following documents
both in Chinese and the original:
(1) an application for administrative protection
of the pharmaceutical;
(2) a copy of the certificate issued by the competent
authorities of the country to which the applicant
belongs granting such exclusive right;
(3) a copy of the document issued by the competent
authorities of the country to which the applicant
belongs for the approval for manufacture or marketing
of such pharmaceutical;
(4) a copy of a contract for the manufacture
and / or marketing formally entered into between
the applicant and a Chinese enterprise as legal
person (including wholly foreign capital enterprises,
Chinese-for-eign joint venture enterprises, or
Chinese-foreign cooperative enter-prises), which
has obtained approval for manufacture or marketing
of pharmaceuticals in accordance with the relevant
Chinese laws and regula-tions, with respect to
the manufacture and / or marketing of the pharmaceutical
in China.
Article 9. Prior
to or after applying for the administrative protection,
the owner of the exclusive right of a foreign
pharmaceutical shall apply to the administrative
department of health under the State Council for
going through the procedures of approval for manufacture
or marketing of the pharmaceutical in China, in
accordance with the provisions of The Pharmaceutical
Administration Law of the People's Republic of
China.
CHAPTER III EXAMINATION
AND APPROVAL OF APPLICATION
FOR ADMINISTRATIVE
PROTECTION
Article 10.
Within 15 days from the date of receipt of the
application documents for administrative protection,
the competent authorities for the production and
distribution of pharmaceuticals of the State Council,
upon preliminary examination, shall make the following
decisions accord-ing to different conditions:
(1) where the application documents are in conformity
with the pro-visions of Article 8 of these Regulations,
issue the notice of acceptance and announce it;
(2) where the application documents are not in
conformity with the provisions of Article 8 of
these Regulations, request the applicant to complement
within a definite time; if the time limit for
making comple-ment is not met, the application
shall be deemed to have not been filed.
Article 11.
The competent authorities for the production
and distri-bution of pharmaceuticals under the
State Council shall finish the exami-nation within
six months from the date of receipt of the application
doc-uments, or from the date of receipt of the
complementary documents stipulated in Article
10(2) of these Regulations. If, under special
circum-stances, the examination cannot be finished
within six months, the com-petent authorities
for the production and distribution of pharmaceuticals
under the State Council shall promptly notify
the applicant, inform the reason and properly
prolong the examination time.
After examination, where the application is in
conformity with the provisions of these Regulations,
administrative protection shall be grant-ed; Where
the application is not in conformity with the
provisions of these Regulations, no administrative
protection shall be granted and the reason shall
be informed.
Article 12. Where
a pharmaceutical is granted with administrative
protection, the competent authorities for the
production and distribution of pharmaceuticals
under the State Council shall issue the certificate
for administrative protection and make an announcement.
CHAPTER IV
DURATION, CESSATION,
REVOCATION AND EFFECT OF ADMINISTRATIVE PROTECTION
Article 13. The
term of administrative protection begins from
the date on which the certificate for administrative
protection of a pharmaceutical is issued and remains
in force for seven years and six months.
Article 14. The
owner of the exclusive right of a foreign pharmaceutical
shall pay an annual fee beginning with the year
in which the certificate for administrative protection
of the pharmaceutical is is-sued.
Article 15. In
any of the following cases, administrative protection
shall cease before the expiration of its duration:
(1) where the exclusive right of a pharmaceutical
had been invalid or had lost efficacy in the country
to which the applicant belongs;
(2) where the owner of the exclusive right of
a pharmaceutical does not pay an annual fee as
prescribed;
(3) where the owner of the exclusive right of
a pharmaceutical aban-dons the administrative
protection by a written declaration;
(4) where the owner of the exclusive right of
a pharmaceutical does not apply to the administrative
department of health under the State Council for
going through the procedures of approval for manufacture
or marketing of this pharmaceutical in China within
a year from the date on which the certificate
for administrative protection of the pharmaceutical
is issued.
Article 16. Where,
after the certificate for administrative protection
of a pharmaceutical has been issued, any organization
or individual thinks that the grant of administrative
protection to the subject pharmaceutical is not
in conformity with the provisions of these Regula-tions,
it or he may request the competent authorities
for the production and distribution of pharmaceuticals
under the State Council to revoke the administrative
protection of the subject pharmaceutical. Where
the owner of the exclusive right of the pharmaceutical
is not satisfied with the revo-cation decision
made by the competent authorities for the production
and distribution of pharmaceuticals under the
State Council, it or he may in-stitute legal proceedings
in the people's court.
Article 17. The
cessation or revocation of administrative protection
of pharmaceuticals shall be announced by the competent
authorities for the production and distribution
of pharmaceuticals under the State Council.
Article 18.
For the pharmaceuticals which have obtained administra-tive
protection, without the authorization of the owners
of the exclusive right of the pharmaceuticals,
the administrative department of health un-der
the State Council and the administrative departments
of health of provinces, autonomous regions or
municipalities directly under the Cen-tral Government
shall not ratify others to manufacture or sell
them.
Article 19.
Where there is any manufacture or marketing of
a pharmaceutical without authorization of the
owner of the exclusive right of the pharmaceutical
who has obtained administrative protection, the
owner of the exclusive right of the pharmaceutical
may request the com-petent authorities for the
production and distribution of pharmaceuticals
under the State Council to stop the infringing
act; if the owner of the ex-clusive right of the
pharmaceutical requests for economic compensation,
he or it may institute legal proceedings in the
people's court.
CHAPTER V SUPPLEMENTARY
PROVISIONS
Article 20.
The competent authorities for the production and
distri-bution of pharmaceuticals under the State
Council shall take measures to keep secret all
the materials provided by applicants, which requires
to be kept secret.
Article 21. Any
application for administrative protection of pharmaceuticals
filed with, and any other relevant proceedings
before, the competent authorities for the production
and distribution of pharmaceuticals under the
State Council shall be subject to the payment
of a fee as prescribed.
Article 22. The
rules for the implementation of these Regulations
shall be formulated by the competent authorities
for the production and distribution of pharmaceuticals
under the State Council.
Article 23.
The competent authorities for the production and
distri-bution of pharmaceuticals under the State
Council shall be responsible for the interpretation
of these Regulations.
Article 24.
These Regulations shall enter into force on January
1, 1993.
(Translated by the State Pharmaceutical Administration
of the Peo-ple's Republic of China.
In case of discrepancy, the original version
in Chinese shall prevail.)
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