Rent Check
Senators Rick Scott (R-FL) and Chris Van Hollen’s (D-MD) We PAID Act, which would prevent patented drugs financed in part by government research from exceeding the price needed for covering research expenses.
The Department of Justice has filed an amicus brief in defense of Led Zeppelin in the rock band’s infringement case.
News and Commentary
Slate has an excellent article investigating why even reputable companies periodically file absurd patent applications. Often, companies will file inferior inventions as prophylactic defense against potential infringement suits or as means of amassing a large patent portfolio to sell in bulk.
By many measures, the rate of innovation is slowing. Noah Smith of Bloomberg Opinion lays out a bevy policy changes which might help. Part of his answer involves scaling back our current standards for patentability.
A piece in the New York Times calls out that Amazon for the presence of counterfeited, misprinted, and subtly-revised books on its site. There are some humorous sections detailing the amazing diversity of Orwell knock offs. But Amazon deserves sympathy, especially considering its response: it would be nearly impossible for them to monitor the copyright status of every book for every country.
As trade talks stall, China has stepped up its corporate espionage operations.
Here’s an interesting interview with professor Arti Rai on the topic of biosimilars. Clearly delineated property rights are generally thought to be an advantage of drug patents. However, the market for biosimilars sufferers real issues of patent ticketing because biosimilars necessarily mirror some previously developed drug. Beyond patent reforms, FDA red tape and industry uptake still remain obstacles to the widespread adoption of these cheaper drugs.
Despite the federal illegality of their trade, Big Marijuana is aggressively patenting its new concoctions and infusions. Patents can only be enforced in federal courts, so people have been hesitant to actually launch suits for now.
North Korea has established an intellectual property agency.
In an ominous sign, the DOJ is currently reviewing the longstanding consent decrees that keep competition open in the music industry.
Eminem has launched a massive infringement suit against Spotify for improperly hosting 250 of his songs.
Choppa, of Choppa Style-fame, has launched a suit against a host of rap artists for illegally sampling his instrumentals.
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