title: A review of the health and economic implications of patent protection, with a specific focus on Thailand.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although it has been two decades since the Thai Patent Act was amended to comply with the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), there has been little emphasis given to assessing the implications of this amendment. The purpose of this review is to summarize the health and economic impact of patent protection, with a focus on the experience of Thailand.
  
  
  METHODS
  A review of national and international empirical evidence on the health and economic implications of patents from 1980 to 2009 was undertaken.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The findings illustrate the role of patent protection in four areas: price, present access, future access, and international trade and investment. Forty-three empirical studies were found, three of which were from Thai databases. Patenting does increase price, although the size of effect differs according to the methodology and country. Although weakening patent rights could increase present access, evidence suggests that strengthening patenting may benefit future access; although this is based on complex assumptions and estimations. Moreover, while patent protection appears to have a positive impact on trade flow, the implication for foreign direct investment (FDI) is equivocal.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Empirical studies in Thailand, and other similar countries, are rare, compromising the robustness and generalizability of conclusions. However, evidence does suggest that patenting presents a significant inter-temporal challenge in balancing aspects of current versus future access to technologies. This underlines the urgent need to prioritize health research resources to assess the wider implications of patent protection.
authors: Health Intervention and Technology Assessment Program, Ministry of Public Health, Nonthaburi, Thailand. inthira.y@hitap.net
authors: Inthira
authors: I
authors: Yamabhai
authors: Richard D
authors: RD
authors: Smith
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000191:economics; D003132:Commerce; D004345:Drug Industry / Q000191:economics; D006295:Health Resources; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D018973:Intellectual Property; D038622:Internationality; D062069:Inventions / Q000191:economics; D007449:Investments; D010330:Patents as Topic; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000191:economics; D013785:Thailand
chemical_list: D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations