Understanding IP Matters: Patents Don’t Block Innovation, Ignorance Does

The U.S. patent system is facing challenges from many stakeholders, including from groups that believe a weak patent system will result in lower drug prices and more widely available treatments.

Such a system would have the opposite effect: fewer treatments being developed due to less research dollars spent. Research and development, and subsequently new drug products, will not occur without a meaningful patent system to provide a level of certainty that investments can be recovered.

Watch the video here.

On the current episode of Understanding IP Matters (UIPM), for the first time on audio and video, Henry Hadad, Senior Vice President & Deputy General Counsel, Innovation Law, at Bristol Myers Squibb, whose family includes successful songwriters, one an Oscar-winner, believes that confusion over the reliability of IP rights slows breakthroughs and discourages investment.

Henry leads a team supporting Bristol Myers’ efforts to discover, develop and deliver groundbreaking treatments for patients with serious unmet medical needs. He is a recognized leader in the IP community, serving on the board of the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO), and currently as President of the IPO Education Foundation. Henry is a well-known advocate for a strong and predictable IP system that drives innovation and economic opportunities for all.

In this episode of “Understanding IP Matters,” Hadad and host Bruce Berman discuss:

• Education about the importance and impact of patents and IP, and how, without a better public understanding, there will be a continued “general dilution of the patent system, which I think is bad for society as a whole,” comments Hadad.
• How an unreliable patent system can result in negative long-term consequences.
• An evolution in inventorship rules should occur as Artificial Intelligence becomes more involved in the patenting process, especially in the pharmaceutical industry. Without an evolution in the law, further work in AI will be chilled. “We don’t want to be in a situation where we have a cure for cancer or heart disease and no one develops it because they can’t get patent protection,” notes Hadad.
• The United States has allowed its patent system to decline. This is in contrast to China, which has made an effort to strengthen its patent system. The growth and strength of China’s biotech industry, says Hadad, “should inspire the U.S. to do better. That’s what we need. We want a healthy, happy competition here to get the best drugs to the patients.”
• Now is not the time for complacency. Hadad implores: “Let’s keep the innovation engine going; let’s keep it driving forward because we’re on the cusp of great, great things.”