FM works on Fair Patent

16 April 2018

Fair Medicine wants Fair Patent to make the current patent system more transparent and open it up for smaller parties.

A patent protects an invention of a technical product or process by allowing the patent holder to forbid others from producing, selling or importing the invention described in the patent. One condition for granting a patent is that the invention must be new. Inventions that are not new are no longer eligible for patent protection, as the knowledge of the invention – also known as prior art – was already present in the market. A patent position can have the effect of driving up the price of the patented product or production process, as the inventor should have the opportunity to earn back the costs of developing his or her invention. In the patent grant process, industry parties review one another’s applications, and when necessary they object to the application in order to prevent unwarranted patents from being issued. Unfortunately, this review system is less effective for drugs to treat rare diseases, as there is often only a single party developing medications for that disease. The lack of peer review means that patents are occasionally issued when they should not have been. Fair Medicine also hopes to use the system to provide smaller parties in the industry with access to the non-transparent system of patents and prior art. Fair Medicine also hopes to use the system to provide smaller parties in the industry with access to the non-transparent system of patents and prior art. The young, ambitious students from De Kleine Consultant will assist Fair Medicine in setting up this system. The consulting bureau, which is run by students who receive coaching from established consultants, is studying the current market and elaborating a business case.