Today, I-MAK is proud to release our new blueprint presenting policymakers with four approaches and six steps they can take right now to address patent thickets, improve competition in the pharmaceutical industry, and lower drug prices.
READ: ADDRESSING PATENT THICKETS TO IMPROVE COMPETITION AND LOWER PRESCRIPTION DRUG PRICES
The proposed policies set out in our blueprint are based on specifically addressing some of the root causes and strategies brand-name drugmakers use to build patent thickets under current laws and procedures. It calls for sensible and long overdue reforms that will return integrity to the patent system by strengthening transparency, encouraging evidence-based policy, and raising the level of patent quality and inventiveness, all while strengthening competition and helping lower drug prices.
This blueprint is the third in a series of policy blueprints that we’ve developed using our Participatory Changemaking (PCM) model, which brings together individuals from different geographic, political, personal, and professional backgrounds to generate new ideas of how to modernize the U.S. patent system.
To support the release of our new blueprint, we’ve also created a 3-minute video explaining how brand-name drugmakers create patent thickets and why we’re at a critical moment for reform.
WATCH | PATENT THICKETS: HOW DRUGMAKERS GAME THE PATENT SYSTEM