Patents and Innovation

I found Stiglitz's discussion of the damaging effects of excessive patenting on innovation to be very persuasive. What seems most problematic however is the ability of US pharmaceutical companies to prohibit the distribution of generic AIDS medications in developing countries. This, I think, is the best example of an area in which developed countries should show more favor to developing countries. At the very least, as he suggests, these countries ought to be able to develop and trade amongst themselves their own versions of patented "life-saving" drugs like those used to treat AIDS and Malaria.

I was browsing the Financial Times and found an article refering to a recent Supreme Court decision which should make obtaining patents, those which would potentially limit innovation more difficult. Though it doesn't seem to hold much bearing on the pharmaceutical industry, it does seem relevant to the overarching problem of patents being obtained too easily.