For this week’s IP News Weekly, I emphasized stories about research breakthroughs and U.S. healthcare reform. In honor of this July 4, I’m taking a moment thank the researchers, business entrepreneurs and investors, and inventors who, as encouraged and protected by the U.S. Constitution, work tirelessly to create solutions to global health and environmental needs.
While I watched “The Fashion Show” on Bravo last night, one of the contestants proclaimed that “a designer is only as good as his last fashion show.” Its easy to forget that the United States’ economy (read = our jobs and homes) is only as strong as our last innovation. Further, everyone (from artists like clothing designers to high-technology workers) understands that it takes a long time to create the next “masterpiece.”
The complexity of creating biotechnology products is especially investment and time-consuming, and both the research process and the final product have a fragile relationship with human health and the environment. The intellectual property framework protects biotechnology innovators when they need it most, during the research and development process and the period of time the patent holder uses to recoop the investors funding. This protection creates a safe environment for investors that increases the possibility of the inventor producing a sustainable, high-quality product. Americans do not prefer low-quality, high-risk solutions to the biggest problems of our time.
I hope that the current members of Congress will take it upon themselves to appreciate the need for data and patent protection for follow-on biologics, intellectual property rights and enforcement in international trade agreements, and increased funding for the NIH, FDA and PTO. No government can force innovation that comes out of the natural creative capabilities of its citizens, even in times of need.
My hope for America this July 4? I hope, in 100 years, the response time to human and environmental suffering will be immediate. Until that day arrives (thanks to scientific breakthroughs funded by individual citizens) — let’s thank the scientists, investors, and inventors around us.
Finally, let’s also thank the founding fathers for knowing America’s innovative potential without seeing it for themselves.
Filed under: Follow-on Biologics, International, IP News Weekly, NIH, Sustainability, United States Patent and Trademark Office | Tagged: Follow-on Biologics, healthcare reform, IP News Weekly, National Institutes of Health, Sustainability, United States Patent and Trademark Office, USPTO | Leave a comment »
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