External Policy Studies Patent

Gene Patents, Drug Prices, and Scientific Research: Unexpected Effects of Recently Proposed Patent Eligibility Legislation

From SSRN:

Abstract

Recently, Congress has considered legislation to § 101, a section of the Patent Act that the Supreme Court has held to prohibit patenting of laws of nature, natural phenomena, and abstract ideas. This draft legislation would expand the realm of patent-eligible subject matter, overturning the Court’s precedents along the way. The draft legislation, and movement to change this doctrine of patent law, made substantial headway last year, with a subcommittee of the Senate holding numerous roundtables and hearings on the subject.

This article considers some less-discussed consequences of that draft legislative proposal. The legislation likely opens the door to patenting of subject matter such as human genes and scientific discoveries, given its broad language and abrogation of precedent. Allowing such patents would have consequential effects such as potentially raising drug prices, decreasing quality of health care, deterring scientific research, slowing the development of innovative technologies, and conflicting with scientific and ethical norms. Considerations such as these ought to be top-of-mind for legislators intending to change the law of patentable subject matter eligibility.

Read the full piece here.

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