OBJECTIVE： To provide reference for further development and utilization of Rumex. METHODS： Using “Rumex” “Rumex madaio” ”Rumex japonicus” “Emilia sonchifolia” and “the leaves of Rumex” as search keywords， the domestic and foreign patents before Nov. 20th， 2017 were retrieved through Vientiane cloud patent information search and information service platform. The development， legal status， applicant and technical field of patent were analyzed. RESULTS & CONCLUSIONS： A total of 1 269 items of patents about Rumex were retrieved， and the number of patent application was increased significantly since 2010； the largest number of patent application were from East Asia， involving China （78.17％）， South Korea （8.27％） and Japan （4.02％）. Compared with other countries， areas and organizations， China has a comfortable leading in terms of patent applications and authorization quantity. On the one hand， there are 447 audited patents that accounted for 45.06％， indicating the good developing prospect； on the other hand， the lowest authorization rate is 9.07％， authorized/invalid index is 0.24， which indicates that the quality of the patents should be further enhanced. The type of applicants are mainly personal，enterprise and institution（accounting for 90％ about）， while scientific research institution， colleges and universities accounted for less than 7％. According to the quantity of patent holding， there are 6 institutions from China among the top 10； the effective，audited or opened and invalid patents of those 6 Chinese institutions accounts for 71.43％，77.05％ and 26.67％ of this type among the top 10 institutions， respectively. It reflects good development and research of Rumex by Chinese institutions. In terms of research field， the development and research of Rumex at home and abroad mainly focus on medicine and health sciences， such as skin dermatosis，anti-infection and digestive tract disease. It indicates that there is a great value in medical use of Rumex， which is worth of further research.