Patent Office Provides Industry with Latest 'mRNA Vaccine' Patent Information

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) is updating the latest mRNA vaccine patent information and providing it to the industry.

KIPO announced on the 29th that it will hold a meeting with pharmaceutical and bio companies registered with the Pharmaceutical Patent Research Association.

The meeting was held to provide the latest patent information from Moderna, Pfizer, and CureVac to support domestic pharmaceutical and bio companies facing patent issues as obstacles in developing mRNA vaccines.

Although the COVID-19 vaccine patents of Moderna, Pfizer, and CureVac have been gradually disclosed overseas, no patents have yet entered the domestic market.

Additionally, Pfizer's vaccine is approved and in use in 107 countries, and Moderna's vaccine in 77 countries. Among these, Moderna's vaccine is currently involved in five patent disputes in the United States and Europe, with ongoing litigation.

Considering these circumstances, the meeting plans to provide the industry with the latest application and dispute trend information as well.

The domestic entry rate of 691 patent technology groups related to mRNA vaccines is about 17%, which is lower compared to major countries such as the United States and Europe.

As a result, although Korea is a global vaccine production base for mRNA vaccines, KIPO explains that the risk of intellectual property disputes is relatively low.

Kim Ji-soo, Director at KIPO, stated, “Starting with this meeting, KIPO plans to complete patent analyses on COVID-19 vaccines beyond the mRNA method within this year, and on vaccine raw material items by January next year, sharing related information through the KIPO website and briefings.”