UK Industry has an opportunity to develop global leadership in the rapidly growing Telehealth space.
CambridgeIP has undertaken research into the Intellectual Property (IP) landscape in Telehealth, presenting a case study to the UK IP Office as part of the 'Review of IP and Growth' (the 'Hargreaves Review').
The patent landscaping exercise focused on medical device types, which can be used autonomously by patients, frequently outside of the hospital environment: inhalers, auto-injectors, heart rate monitors, blood pressure monitors and blood glucose monitors.
Patent landscaping results showed significant differences in the overall size of the medical devices patent space but also striking differences in the 'penetration' of wireless technology in medical device systems.
You can download the full report here: http://www.cambridgeip.com/knowledge-centre/health-a-life-sciences.html
The Telehealth space can be characterised as a convergence sector, developing within the overlap of the medical devices industry and telecommunications industry. Consequently, the Telehealth space is characterised by an increasing overlap and convergence of products and services from companies that have previously operated in fairly separate domains.
Some of our policy concusions were that
Important considerations for policymakers in relation to the Telehealth space:
- The Telehealth space results from the convergence of two previously separate and patent intensive industries medical devices and telecoms. IP practices, regulatory environment and corporate strategies in these two industries differ in several key respects.
- There is a wide diversity of types of Telehealth market participants in the UK, including a relatively large proportion of UK based SMEs holding valuable IP.
- As with most modern high--‐technology spaces, markets, competition and consequently Intellectual Property RIghts considerations are global.
Policy response options include:
- Review public procurement practices in the NHS and elsewhere to create a unified internal market for the development and deployment of IPRs
- Support to UK based SMEs in the development and deployment of international IPR strategies in the Telehealth space
- Further research into the technology-market space, including IP Landscapes and technology landscapes, to identify UK leaders, unpatented UK developments, UK centres of excellence and to better understand the global competitive environment in particular sub‐sectors.
We will be very interested in the response of medical practitioners to increasing deployment of Telehealth solutions, the patent and IPR related issues discussed in our report (including 'patent thickets') and the conclusions and policy options presented.
You can download the full report here: http://www.cambridgeip.com/knowledge-centre/health-a-life-sciences.html - happy reading!
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Mr Quentin Tannock
"Fully fledged 'telehealth' solutions could facilitate reimbursements by result (i.e. by some measure of treatment effectiveness). In part, this would be enabled by confirmation of patient compliance with the treatment regieme. Intriguing thought!"5 months ago.
