Showing archive for: “Patents”
Nothing Runs Like a Deere You Can Repair
Farmers have won the right to repair—at least, if they own John Deere equipment. In July, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a settlement requiring Deere to give farmers and independent repair shops access to the software, manuals, and other resources needed to fix its products. The settlement sensibly balances consumers’ immediate interest in affordable ... Nothing Runs Like a Deere You Can Repair
Four Patents and a Time Machine: CareFirst and the Perils of Backdated Antitrust
Four patents can carry a lot of antitrust baggage—especially when they come tucked inside a portfolio of more than 500. In CareFirst of Maryland v. Johnson & Johnson, health insurer CareFirst alleges that Johnson & Johnson unlawfully acquired and later asserted four patents to delay competition from biosimilars, highly similar alternatives to biologic drugs, for ... Four Patents and a Time Machine: CareFirst and the Perils of Backdated Antitrust
A Patent, a Blood Test, and 20 Years of Waiting
A blood test now helps doctors decide, in about 15 minutes, whether a patient with a suspected brain injury needs a CT scan. It took about 20 years to get there. That gap between scientific promise and clinical use tells us more about American innovation policy than most congressional hearings ever will. At one such ... A Patent, a Blood Test, and 20 Years of Waiting
With Gilead’s Reasonableness Standard, Side Effects May Vary
A drug manufacturer’s research pipeline is many things: a bet on science, a bet on regulators, a bet on patents, and a very expensive bet against failure. What it has not traditionally been—at least until now—is a standing invitation for tort plaintiffs to argue, years later, that the company should have bet differently. That is ... With Gilead’s Reasonableness Standard, Side Effects May Vary
Reverse Patent Pools and Other TTBER Tall Tales
In standard-essential patent (SEP) licensing, every procedural tweak is also a skirmish over bargaining power. That is what makes licensing negotiation groups (LNGs) more than an obscure acronym in the European Commission’s 2026 Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulation (TTBER) and accompanying Guidelines (TTGs). LNGs would allow technology implementers to bargain collectively with rights holders. Depending ... Reverse Patent Pools and Other TTBER Tall Tales
The Fatal Conceit of Cheap Drugs
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear Hikma v. Amarin to answer a narrow question. It may end up saying far more about how policymakers misunderstand pharmaceutical markets. On its face, the case is narrow. It asks whether a generic drug manufacturer can face liability for inducing patent infringement based on how it markets a ... The Fatal Conceit of Cheap Drugs
Putting the Bite Back in Patents
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) Feb. 27 joint statement of interest in Collision Communications v. Samsung signals a possible shift back toward the first Trump administration’s “New Madison Approach” to patent policy. That framework—largely abandoned during the Biden administration—treated patents as property rights and defended the central ... Putting the Bite Back in Patents
The Many Tradeoffs of Trump’s ‘Fat Shot’ Deal
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump announced deals with drugmakers to reduce prices and expand access to GLP-1 weight-loss drugs like Ozempic, Zepbound, and Wegovy. Originally developed to help diabetics manage their blood sugar, the drugs mimic the natural hormone glucagone-like-peptide-1 (GLP-1). GLP-1s trigger the pancreas to release insulin at times of high blood-sugar levels, ... The Many Tradeoffs of Trump’s ‘Fat Shot’ Deal
The NIH ‘Access Plan’ Mandate: Central Planning by Another Name
When the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced in July that it would move forward with a Biden-era proposal to require “access plans” for companies seeking to license NIH-owned patents, the decision stunned many in the innovation community. Industry groups warned that this new bureaucratic hurdle would “kill NIH licensing.” They’re right, and not merely ... The NIH ‘Access Plan’ Mandate: Central Planning by Another Name
Killer Acquisitions: A Killer Story, But Still Not Much Evidence
Merger-control regimes around the world have for some time now engaged with the theory of harm known as “killer acquisitions.” The idea is simple: an incumbent buys a rival in order to shut down its operations and preempt future competition. Indeed, the original paper that laid out the theory found that 5-7% of mergers may ... Killer Acquisitions: A Killer Story, But Still Not Much Evidence
First Impressions from the DOJ/FTC Listening Session on Drug-Price Competition
Last week’s “listening session” on pharmaceutical competition, hosted jointly by the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC), may go down as an important precursor to the Trump administration’s promised campaign to lower drug prices. While billed as a fact-finding exercise, the discussion revealed competing visions to reform the U.S. pharmaceutical ecosystem, with ... First Impressions from the DOJ/FTC Listening Session on Drug-Price Competition
Strong Support for Patent Rights Could Promote US Innovation
Recent U.S. executive branch actions point to enhanced support for patent rights. This could help accelerate American innovation in a time of growing international competition. Background As I explained in a previous Forbes article: The United States has the world’s largest and most innovative economy, and our patent law framework has played a major role in ... Strong Support for Patent Rights Could Promote US Innovation
