Patent issues in eHealth, especially of North and South problems on telemedicine

Abstract

This paper intends to specifically verify what patent issues may be encountered in the telemedicine, using 2007, 2008 and 2009 International Property Rights Index (IPRI) which is the first international comparative study that measures the significance of both physical and intellectual property rights and their protection for economic well-being. Where “telemedicine” is defined as “the use of electronic information and communication technologies to provide and support health care when distance separates the participants”, the technologies are concerned, when discussing the “telemedicine”, and we cannot avoid thinking about “patent” that serves to protect the “technologies” as rights. This patent issues acts as a hindrance factor against spreading and promoting the telemedicine. To solve this hindrance factor, i.e. the patent issues, and for the purpose of spreading and promoting the telemedicine so that the benefit of medicine may reach everybody, including the people living in the developing countries, to improve the health of people all over the world, it seems important to recognize the presence of “patent issues” in the field of “telemedicine”.