International patenting in ophthalmology: An analysis of its structure and relevance for the development of drugs and diagnostics

Figures & data

Figure 1 Annual count of ocular drug, diagnostics and cell culture PCT patent applications included in the database, 1986–2007.

Figure 2 Percentage of ocular drug, diagnostics and cell culture patent applications expressed as percentage of all PCT applications published in the respective year, 1986–2007.

Table 1 Selected metadata for ocular drug, tissue culture and diagnostic patents, 1999–2008

Year of publication	Applications with experimental data	Applications without examiner objections
1999	69.9%	15.9%
2000	84.4%	10.4%
2001	72.3%	18.6%
2002	62.9%	18.5%
2003	64.5%	18.9%
2004	73.2%	26.8%
2005	68.5%	16.7%
2006	73.8%	21.3%
2007	72.6%	7.8%
2008 (Jan–Jun)	78.1%	Not meaningfully calculable at present

Figure 3 Target indications for ocular drug, diagnostics and cell culture patent applications, October 2006 to September 2007.