The surge in medical patent activity

01-01-2010

Paul Sutton

Paul Sutton examines the arguments for and against patenting medical and surgical procedures.

Paul Sutton examines the arguments for and against patenting medical and surgical procedures.

While a great deal of attention has been focused on President Barack Obama’s March 23, 2010 signing into law of the landmark US healthcare reform bill, the general public is not nearly as aware of the increasing role that patents play in the delivery of improved medical and dental technologies to patients.

Patents directed to the clinical diagnoses and treatments of patients teach promising inventions in the field of personalised medicine. Similarly, the fruits of significant improvements in the dental arts are in use and were on display at the 2009 International Dental Show in Cologne, Germany.


USPTO, medical patents, AMA, Prometheus, Myriad, Bilski

WIPR