[briandear]

Something needs to happen with tort reform and the cost of FDA approvals. The FDA process is hugely expensive and inefficient. Contrast the FDA with Switzerland.

The patent system is essential for medicines. I know many people don't like that reality but who will invest in pharma companies if their investment could quickly be nullified due to the loss of intellectual property? Would you invest in a company when the competitive advantage that company is immediately rendered moot?

However, there are definitely places for reform, so I am not fully defending the USPTO system, I am simply suggesting that a strong patent system is a fundamental motivator of pharmaceutical innovation.

[tracker1]

Pharmaceutical companies still make generic medications that are no longer covered by patents as well as over the counter medications. As for approval costs, the biggest cost for these companies is marketing, plain and simple. The actual people doing the research, I'm guessing are not solely guided by their pay or patents for that matter. I would presume that many people just want to make society better.

I am not suggesting that patents go away entirely, but their scope should definitely be reduced... extension patents in particular should not receive the same 20 years that original patents receive. The patent system has resulted in generations of gaming the system to the point where it no longer works.

I'm unconvinced that patents serve the public good in this day and age. I am convinced, however, that the vast majority of patents granted should not have been.