TechDirt reports
[...] The past few USPTO directors had been cut from the "more patents is always a good thing" mold, whereas Lee actually recognized that bad patents harmed innovation. And even though the last time the Patent Office got concerned about bad patents it allowed the patent approval backlog to fill up, under Lee the backlog has reached its lowest point in a decade.[paywall]
[...] For all the craziness going on in the government right now, having competent leadership at the USPTO would be one less thing to worry about. But... now it's being reported that Lee has suddenly resigned and sent a goodbye email to staff. That's bad news on the patent front.
Of course, it may be ages before any new director is appointed. As I type this, of the 559 key positions requiring Senate confirmation, Trump hasn't even named a nominee for 431 of them. [...] Adding the new USPTO director to that pile may mean no new USPTO director for.... who the hell knows how long.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 07 2017, @05:19PM (1 child)
But most would be forbidden to sell them in the USA through other bureaucratic mechanisms, would they not? Those ludicrous 1000%+ price hikes on ancient long-ago-out-of-patent drugs are easy to remember, you know.
The drug companies are already having their cake AND eating it too, thanks to much-too-helpful government. And do not forget the newly-invented "rights" written by them into the TPP; if not for Trump, they would be happily abusing those right now, as well.
They broke the social contract, long ago, in the name of greed. And it is likely that cheaper access to the already invented stuff will keep more people alive and healthy, than would their developing a few more updated cash-cow compounds.
(Score: 2) by Wootery on Thursday June 08 2017, @10:15AM
Sure, that should be fixed. There's plenty wrong with the way drugs are treated by the US government. The whole point is that the monopoly granted by patents has a limited term, after all.
Abolishing drug patents completely, though, remains a stupid idea.