Pharmaceutical Patents: How They Work

Innovation.org, a project of the Pharmaceuticalmentioned in the original articles of the
Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA)Constitution.
created to provide a place to discuss and learn- Patent protection in the United States gives
about pharmaceutical innovation, published a paperinventors the exclusive right to sell an invention
on the value of pharmaceutical patents and thefor up to 20 years before others may copy and
need for strong intellectual property protection.sell it. However, the effective patent life, which
The 34 page paper provides valuable informationonly begins to run when the patent is granted and
on the pharmaceutical patent system, whythe invention can be marketed, is closer to 18
patents are important, the long term value of½ years. For pharmaceuticals, the effective
patents to save lives, and the need for a strongpatent life is actually closer to 11 or 12 years since
patent protection system to continuefederal law requires a company to test its
pharmaceutical innovation. Below is a sample ofproduct for safety and efficacy and secure
what can be found in this paper.regulatory approval before marketing it, a process
- Abraham Lincoln said that patents “addedthat can take years.
the fuel of interest to the fire of genius.”- Patents are a kind of agreement in which an
But, it was not genius alone that Lincoln and ourinventor is given a limited period of time of
founding fathers desired from a patent system.exclusivity to make and sell a product
Rather, their objective was innovation. Innovationincorporating an invention in exchange for agreeing
is why we protect intellectual property.to make his or her invention public, thus enabling
- The founding fathers felt so strongly about theand encouraging the continuation of scientific
importance of innovation that patent anddiscovery.
copyright protection is the only right expressly