Patents on drugs, biologics and medical devices increase the cost of healthcare. For many individuals, in the U.S. and worldwide, the price of drugs is prohibitively expensive, leaving patients without adequate treatment. Patients Not Patents is committed to ensuring access to healthcare through litigation, advocacy, and education. Patients not Patents challenges the validity of medical patents before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.



Projects



In carrying out its mission to reduce the barriers to affordable healthcare and to educate the public about the effects of intellectual property laws on the availability of healthcare for all, Patients not Patents has four ongoing projects.



The University Licensing Project seeks to obtain copies of state universities' license agreements with pharmaceutical and biotech companies, through each state's Freedom of Information Act. The purpose is to determine when university-industry agreements substantially harm the public by keeping prices at monopoly levels.



The Patent Busting Project directly challenges the validity of U.S. patents on medical and pharmaceutical products, devices and methods. Patents are challenged by presenting evidence to the US Patent Office demonstrating that the "invention" claimed in the patent was already in the public domain.



The Consumer Litigation Project focuses on address false or misleading advertisements by nutritional supplement makers.



Education and advocacy efforts include testimony before public bodies on the relationship between health care and patent rights, public demonstrations, workshops, and dissemination of information through pamphlets and this web site.