Last week, GSK announced that we have joined the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in its motion to dismiss litigation over Final Regulations published in August 2007. The litigation related to proposed changes to regulations that would have limited the number of patent applications and patent claims that could be filed on an invention in order to reduce a large backlog of work at the USPTO. Our position was that the proposed rules threatened to diminish our ability to patent our medical innovations and would ultimately have harmed patients by reducing protection for pharmaceutical investments.
Importantly, today's announcement marks a significant step forward in improving collaboration between industry and the USPTO and is evidence of the USPTO's renewed support for and responsiveness to patent applicants, led by the recently appointed head of the PTO, David Kappos. We all agree that the U.S. patent system is of fundamental importance to the strength of the U.S. economy, which is based on leadership in innovation. In fact, without the necessary protection, we are sure to witness a decrease in the development of innovative medicines for patients with unmet medical needs, as well as job loss across business sectors.
We believe that the patent system should be based on a consistent set of laws that will allow us to protect our investment and innovation over the long period of pharma R&D. Once granted, patent protection should be predictable and secure. Today it takes up to 10 years and nearly $1 billion to discover and develop a medicine. To put this into context, at this time, GSK is in the process of defending patents that were filed in the early 1990s under the legal framework of today. Who among us could have predicted how the patent laws would have changed in a period of almost 20 years?
We hope this is just the beginning of our collaboration with the new director of the US Patent and Trademark Office, David Kappos, and his administration. In the coming months, we hope to work with them on changes that will encourage innovation and continued investment in research toward life-improving and life-saving medicines for patients.
Leave a comment