earticle

영어

Recently, it has been faced with a controversy over medical method patents in Korea. Arguments against patents on medical method focused on several moral and ethical concerns including: the impact on patient access to life-saving techniques because of cost or a physician's fear of suit; possible invasions of patient privacy in the gathering of patent-related information; interference with physician autonomy regarding patient treatment; and disintegration of the traditional culture of disclosure and peer review that pervades the medical community and enhances the overall quality of patient care. However, the patenting of medical method poses substantial risks to the effective practice of medicine by limiting the availability of new procedures to patients, and it should be condemned on this basis. Accordingly, it can be believed that it is unethical for physicians to seek, secure, or enforce patents on medical procedures. In this article, I intend to review what legal issues are involved in patenting of medical method under patent law system.