According to Nihon Keizai Shimbun of April 19, 2002, the following was reported:

A survey conducted by the Japanese Patent Office shows that post-genome-related patent applications have rapidly increased worldwide. In 2001, the estimated number of post-genome-related patent applications accounts for approximately 60% of biotechnology-related patent applications filed in individual countries of the world. A breakdown by country of post-genome-related patent applications filed in 2000 is shown below:

U. S. A. (43%), China (32%), Europe (17%) , Japan (7%). This clearly shows that Japan got a slow start.

On the other hand, in China in particular, there is conspicuous upsurge in post-genome-related patent applications. In 1999, the number of post-genome-related patent applications filed by China was less than 400, which was less than that of Japan. However, in 2000, China ranks second highest of the world as to post-genome-related patent applications (estimated at approximately 1500). A large number of patent applications in this field were filed by a group of bio-venture enterprises affiliated to the Shanghai Biotech Company.