RESUMEN
Patent documentation is a kind of high-value scientific literature, which has caught the attention of more and more scholars. In this paper, the World Traditional Medicine Patent Database (WTMPD) was used to retrieve patents of the traditional medicines used in the treatment and prevention of influenza worldwide in the past 30 years. A total of 2 423 patents were further screened by a series of processes. Finally, multi-angle analysis was carried on the dataset to form a patent analysis report on traditional anti-flu drugs. From the analysis, we found that China had a rapid increase in the number of patent applications, which was in the leading role in the world, though the number of PCT applicant from China is relatively low. A large amount of applicants from the USA, Japan, and Korea have entered into China. Pharmaceutical company is the core group of patent applicant, who had applied a lot of quality patent about their products to protect their commercial interests. Honeysuckle, licorice, isatis root, forsythia and skullcap are five kinds of herbs, which have been most frequently used in anti-influenza patents.