Adam Mossoff on Medical Patents and Affordability

IPWatchdog – ICLE Academic Affiliate Adam Mossoff was quoted by IPWatchdog in a story about a recent joint forum of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding the relationship between patents and affordable access to medicines. You can read full piece here.

Professor Adam Mossoff of George Mason University, Antonin Scalia Law School, spoke on the same panel as Amin and urged the USPTO and FDA to focus on the evidence before making any sweeping changes. Mossoff has been vocally critical of I-MAK and authored a Policy Memo last year that called the organization’s data into question and later prompted letters from Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) asking Amin/I-MAK, the USPTO and FDA for more information on how the data was derived and how it’s being used.

Mossoff reiterated in his statement at the listening session that I-MAK is relying on pending and abandoned applications in its count of patents covering individual drugs, which greatly skews the data. He told the USPTO and FDA panelists that he hopes they will put the evidentiary burden for proving systemic problems on those proposing systemic changes and that they will remember the data driving the debate is rife with serious questions about its veracity.