You betcha. The business model of Big Pharma depends on patents. Without strong, enforceable patents, privately-funded pharmaceutical research would not exist.
Case in point: Gilead sells the highly effective ‘Solvadi’ hepatitis C drug for $1000 per pill. That’s $84,000 for a twelve-week course. Idenix, a Merck subsidiary, argued that Gilead’s Solvadi infringed Idenix patents. A jury in the U.S. District Court in Delaware agreed and awarded Idenix damages of $2.54 billion. That’s billion with a ‘b.’ Is this case over? Highly unlikely. The Apple v Samsung $399 million judgment for design patent infringement looks puny by comparison. Incidentally, the same twelve-week course of treatment in India costs about $336.00.
–Robert Yarbrough, Esq.