Should Medicine Be Patented?

Pharmaceutical companies have the ability to develop new drugs that can prolong life and provide cures to diseases that affect people worldwide. Patents are especially important to these drug companies because they can guarantee profit and make all the time and cost put into developing their new drug worthwhile.

Why are drugs patented?

Obtaining patent protection is important to safeguard the innovative approaches used by pharma companies. Drug patents help recoup investments that are incurred during the research and development stage. Drug patents can secure against infringement cases, as competitors can easily duplicate the manufacturing of a drug.

Are medical patents good?

Drug patents are good for 20 years after the drug's invention. In most cases, this time frame is halved to 10 years after testing finally brings the drug to the marketplace. Patents are typically awarded within a few years after the patent application submission.