This week on IPWatchdog Unleashed, we have a conversation about one of the hottest topics not just in the intellectual property world, but one that people are discussing both inside and outside of government. The cost of prescription pharmaceuticals is higher in the United States than anywhere else in the world, and many in the United States—including President Trump—are fed up with this imbalance. What makes drug pricing an intellectual property issue is the fact that those who do not like patents engage in a sophisticated and coordinated campaign to mislead the public into ignoring what really drives prices and instead blame patents. In other words—they lie.
My conversation this week with John White was much like any number of conversations we have had over the years over dinner or drinks. What prompted me to ask John to speak with us this week was an article he recently wrote, which we published on IPWatchdog. It was styled as an open letter to Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the incoming co-leaders of the soon-to-be Department of Government Efficiency. In that article John explains that “the patent system is currently foundered”, but that it can be fixed with “focus and ongoing commitment to see the fixes through to results.” So, that is where we start our conversation, like so many we have had over the last 26 years—what is wrong with the patent system and how should it be fixed.
Insights from Innovation Leaders on our 2023 Global Top 100 List Which companies will be leading the future of science and technology? How did they get there? And even more important – what can we learn from these innovators? Join us on Thursday, March 9, 2023, at 11 AM ET, for a live webinar conversation moderated by Gene Quinn, President &…
In November, the UIC John Marshall Law School held their 63rd Annual Intellectual Property Conference in Chicago, IL. The program consisted of four plenary sessions and nine breakout sessions covering artificial intelligence, patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, antitrust, and in-house counsel, as well as IT and privacy developments. Speakers came from China, Europe, and the Middle East, and represented government, industry, academia, nonprofits, and practice. IPWatchdog’s Editor-In-Chief, Eileen McDermott was there. The program kicked off with a keynote address the Honorable Chief Judge Diane Wood of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Titled “Antitrust & IP: Does It Need to Be Retooled?”, Chief Judge Wood spoke about the need for procedural and substantive reform. She began by observing that “[t]he general rule has been for many years — and I think this is entirely correct — that intellectual property is property.” She noted that this approach has been encapsulated in the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission’s Guidelines for the Licensing of Intellectual Property, and that “the fundamentals of antitrust analysis are the same, although the answers may be a little different.” Citing standard essential patents as an example, she said that “there may be some real synergies back and forth between the IP field and the antitrust field that would be well worth exploring,” in particular when considering how antitrust law should approach access issues involving digital platforms, as what is sought is “FRAND-type access to these platforms. ”