• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2016

Patent management activities are considered to play a key role for technology-based firms under the recent knowledge-based economies. This is because intellectual property, including patents, can act as a system for continuous profit generation by protecting firms' products, processes and services. In Korea, healthcare industry is now regarded as one of the promising next generation industries. Despite the promise of healthcare industry, Korean healthcare product manufacturers are faced with turbulent business changes, such as market opening. Even though there are various industrial studies on the effect of patent management activities on firm outcome, previous studies have hardly paid attention to Korean healthcare product manufacturing firms. For this reason, this study identifies the effect of patent management activities, such as patenting activeness, technical excellence and cooperation degree, on firm outcomes, including financial profitability and firm growth, with respect to the Korean healthcare product manufacturers. In this study, we located 86 Korean healthcare manufacturing firms from KORCHAMBIZ and DART, and then collected the data of their patenting activities and outcomes between 2001 and 2013. By applying factor analysis and regression analysis, our empirical study found that firms' patenting activeness has the significant positive relationship on firms' financial profitability, and firms' patenting activeness and technical excellence have the significant positive relationship on firms' financial growth. Our study is an initial attempt to identify the effect of patent management activities on firm outcome within Korean healthcare product manufacturing industry, and thus its results can be used as the basis to formulate national policies for Korean healthcare product industry.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.147-196
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• 2023

Advances in brain science have made it possible to stimulate the brain to treat brain disorder or to connect directly between the neuron activity and an external devices. Non-invasive neurotechnologies already exist, but invasive neurotechnologies can provide more precise stimulation or measure brainwaves more precisely. Nowadays deep brain stimulation (DBS) is recognized as an accepted treatment for Parkinson's disease and essential tremor. In addition DBS has shown a certain positive effect in patients with Alzheimer's disease and depression. Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) are in the clinical stage but help patients in vegetative state can communicate or support rehabilitation for nerve-damaged people. The issue is that the people who need these invasive neurotechnologies are those whose capacity to consent is impaired or who are unable to communicate due to disease or nerve damage, while DBS and BCI operations are highly invasive and require informed consent of patients. Especially in areas where neurotechnology is still in clinical trials, the risks are greater and the benefits are uncertain, so more explanation should be provided to let patients make an informed decision. If the patient is under guardianship, the guardian is able to substitute for the patient's consent, if necessary with the authorization of court. If the patient is not under guardianship and the patient's capacity to consent is impaired or he is unable to express the consent, korean healthcare institution tend to rely on the patient's near relative guardian(de facto guardian) to give consent. But the concept of a de facto guardian is not provided by our civil law system. In the long run, it would be more appropriate to provide that a patient's spouse or next of kin may be authorized to give consent for the patient, if he or she is neither under guardianship nor appointed enduring power of attorney. If the patient was not properly informed of the risks involved in the neurosurgery, he or she may be entitled to compensation of intangible damages. If there is a causal relation between the malpractice and the side effects, the patient may also be able to recover damages for those side effects. In addition, both BCI and DBS involve the implantation of electrodes or microchips in the brain, which are controlled by an external devices. Since implantable medical devices are subject to product liability laws, the patient may be able to sue the manufacturer for damages if the defect caused the adverse effects. Recently, Korea's medical device regulation mandated liability insurance system for implantable medical devices to strengthen consumer protection.