Patent System Manipulation : Hedge Funds Abusing IPR, Poor Patent Quality & Pharmaceutical Monopolies

Patent System Manipulation : Hedge Funds Abusing IPR, Poor Patent Quality & Pharmaceutical Monopolies

Journal article

32 pages

0736-7694

This Note explores the abuses to IPR and the stock market by hedge funds, and abuses by pharmaceutical companies to the patent system as a whole, and poses a solution that will prevent these abuses. In Part I, this Note will discuss patent basics, the PTAB’s role, and the IPR process. It will also examine, in detail, the patent trolling technique hedge funds are using. Additionally, it will address what actions the PTAB has taken, and is likely to take, if any, to prevent the hedge funds’ conduct. Lastly, Part I will explore the monopolistic hold the pharmaceutical industry has on drug pricing. Part II of this Note will examine the legislative responses to hedge funds’ abuse of IPR by analyzing proposed patent reform bills in Congress, and whether those bills will affect the problem at hand. This Part will also address the pharmaceutical industry’s push for an exception to IPR. In Part III of this Note, a policy solution will be proposed that advocates for higher standards for pharmaceutical companies to obtain drug patents, and for regulatory changes that allow for quicker entry to the market by generics. Moreover, Part III will discuss how these policies can be implemented and why they will work.

Published in : Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law, vol. 35, no. 1 (2017)

[New York City, New York] : Yeshiva University Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, 2017.

eng