• Home
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Subscribe
    • Privacy Policy
  • Advertise
    • Advertise On IP Watch
    • Editorial Calendar
  • Videos
  • Links
  • Help

Intellectual Property Watch

Original news and analysis on international IP policy

  • Copyright
  • Patents
  • Trademarks
  • Opinions
  • People News
  • Venues
    • Bilateral/Regional Negotiations
    • ITU/ICANN
    • United Nations – other
    • WHO
    • WIPO
    • WTO/TRIPS
    • Africa
    • Asia/Pacific
    • Europe
    • Latin America/Caribbean
    • North America
  • Themes
    • Access to Knowledge/ Open Innovation & Science
    • Food Security/ Agriculture/ Genetic Resources
    • Finance
    • Health & IP
    • Human Rights
    • Internet Governance/ Digital Economy/ Cyberspace
    • Lobbying
    • Technical Cooperation/ Technology Transfer
  • Health Policy Watch

50+ US Congress Members Urge Reasonable Licensing Terms For Government-Funded Medical Patents

11/01/2016 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

By Jahan ‘Harry’ Taubman-Rezakhanlou for Intellectual Property Watch

More than 50 members of the United States Congress today sent a letter urging the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) to exercise their legal authority to require medical patents that have emerged from government-funded medical research projects to be licensed on reasonable and affordable terms for public use.

The letter [pdf], rooted in a growing public concern with the rising prices of prescription drugs, argued that failure to use this measure would drive an image that the American government funds projects with taxpayer money that allow profiteering from struggling patients and families rather than simply earning enough profit to provide for future research and the researchers’ own incomes.

Rep. Lloyd Doggett (Democrat, Texas), who led the letter effort, said in a statement that “the Administration should use every tool it has to rein in the practice of pricing a drug at whatever the sick, suffering, or dying will pay.”

If the current trend continues, the letter said, specialty drugs, including medication for cancer treatment, would account for over 30 percent of medical spending, despite only accounting for 2 percent of prescription drugs by 2020.

The letter made clear that innovation in the medical field would not be threatened under this law since it would only penalize wrongdoing rather than individually restricting each licence. Federal agencies are given the authority related to government-funded intellectual property under “march-in rights” included in the 1980 Bayh-Dole Act.

Letter signatories include: Reps. Bass, Becerra, Blumenauer, Cartwright, Chu, Cicilline, Clarke, Cleaver, Cohen, Conyers, Cummings, DeFazio, DeLauro, DeSaulnier, Doggett, Ellison, Farr, Fattah, Hahn, Hastings, Huffman, Garamendi, Al Green, Grijalva, Gutierrez, Kaptur, Lawrence, Lee, Lewis, Lujan Grisham, McDermott, Moore, Napolitano, Nadler, Nolan, Norton, O’Rourke, Pingree, Pocan, Rangel, Roybal-Allard, Ruiz, Schakowsky, Serrano, Scott, Slaughter, Takano, Bennie Thompson, Waters, Welch, and Yarmuth.

Jahan ‘Harry’ Taubman-Rezakhanlou is an intern with Intellectual Property Watch.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Related

Creative Commons License"50+ US Congress Members Urge Reasonable Licensing Terms For Government-Funded Medical Patents" by Intellectual Property Watch is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Filed Under: IP-Watch Briefs, IP Policies, Language, Themes, Venues, Access to Knowledge/ Education, English, Finance, Health & IP, Human Rights, Innovation/ R&D, North America, Patents/Designs/Trade Secrets, Regional Policy

Trackbacks

  1. Why the Corporations-Leaning US Political System Does Not and Will Not Help Resolve the Patent Chaos | Techrights says:
    12/01/2016 at 3:09 pm

    […] Watch, a site mostly critical of the existing systems or frameworks, has just said that “More than 50 members of the United States Congress today sent a letter urging the US […]

    Reply
  2. ¿Porqué el Systema Político de los Estados Unidos inclinado hacia las CORPORACIONES NO Ayudara a Resolver el Caos de Patentes | Techrights says:
    15/01/2016 at 1:05 pm

    […] watch, un sitio mayormente crítico del los existentes sistemas o estructuras, reciéntemente ha dicho que ¨Más de 50 miembros del Congreso de los Estados Unidos hoy envíaron una carta urgiendo al […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Vimeo
My Tweets

IPW News Briefs

Saudis Seek Alternative Energy Partners Through WIPO Green Program

Chinese IP Officials Complete Study Of UK, European IP Law

Perspectives on the US

In US, No Remedies For Growing IP Infringements

US IP Law – Big Developments On The Horizon In 2019

More perspectives on the US...

Supported Series: Civil Society And TRIPS Flexibilities

Civil Society And TRIPS Flexibilities Series – Translations Now Available

The Myth Of IP Incentives For All Nations – Q&A With Carlos Correa

Read the TRIPS flexibilities series...

Paid Content

Interview With Peter Vanderheyden, CEO Of Article One Partners

More paid content...

IP Delegates in Geneva

  • IP Delegates in Geneva
  • Guide to Geneva-based Public Health and IP Organisations

All Story Categories

Other Languages

  • Français
  • Español
  • 中文
  • اللغة العربية

Archives

  • Archives
  • Monthly Reporter

Staff Access

  • Writers

Sign up for free news alerts

This site uses cookies to help give you the best experience on our website. Cookies enable us to collect information that helps us personalise your experience and improve the functionality and performance of our site. By continuing to read our website, we assume you agree to this, otherwise you can adjust your browser settings. Please read our cookie and Privacy Policy. Our Cookies and Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2022 · Global Policy Reporting

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.