Mises Wire

The Death of Patents

The Death of Patents

No, unfortunately, the patent system is not dying. The title refers to deaths caused by the patent system. According to the BBC News science report, Patent system ‘stifling science’, findings by the Canada-based Innovation Partnership indicate that “Life-saving scientific research is being stifled by a ‘broken’ patent system”. “‘Blocking patents’ are delaying advances in cancer medicine and food crops,” according to the report.

While “[t]he traditional view is that strong patent protection stimulates innovation, reassuring companies that it is safe to invest in research without fear of being stung by rivals,” this strategy “deters grass roots research in universities.” As an example, “Work on the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes that can cause breast cancer has been held up by legal disputes over patents held on the genes by Myriad Genetics, a biotech firm based in Utah, US. … Meanwhile, patients in European countries were denied access to the cancer screening kits, because national health services were unwilling to meet the cost.”

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