George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School

Professors Erika Lietzan and Kristina Acri on “Distorted Drug Patents”

The following post comes from Austin Shaffer, a 2L at Scalia Law and a Research Assistant at CPIP.

pharmaceuticalsBy Austin Shaffer

In their new paper, Distorted Drug Patents, CPIP Senior Scholar Erika Lietzan of Mizzou Law and Kristina Acri of Colorado College explore a paradox in our patent system: Innovators are less motivated to work on drugs that take more time to develop as drug research incentives are being skewed away from the harder problems (e.g. Read more

The Drug Innovation Paradox: Matching Incentives to Market Realities

scientist looking through a microscopeThe hardest things are often the most important things. That’s one of the implicit justifications for the intellectual property system. If we want people to do the hard and important work of researching, developing, and commercializing game-changing innovations, then we need to secure the fruits of their labor with property rights. Read more

The European Union Extends Copyright in Design—and Critics Balk (Yet Again)

dictionary entry for the word "innovate"The European Union recently decided to support the productive labors of designers by extending legal protections of their works in all areas of copyright, design, and patent law. Just as past legislation in the United States extending copyright terms was attacked with histrionic allegations that this was merely rent-seeking behavior by politically powerful corporations, the EU’s extension of protections for designs have come under similar attack. Read more