PF: Stay in This room

BP: Breakout room I

Sophistry Employees:
Breakout room II
Resolution: On balance, patent is
more beneficial than harmful

BY:
Chingwei
Tournaments:
PF:
Sophistry X FLC Public Forum Championship
(5/14 postponed to June 3 rd

BP:
SFBPDC (5/21) On today’s Demo motion
 What is Sophistry?
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Background
information
on Patents
 Patents
-A patent grants the patent holder the exclusive right to exclude other from
making, using, importing, and selling the patented innovation for a limited
period of time. (Cornell law)

-A patent is one of the three types of intellectual property. The other two are
trademarks and copyrights.

-Patents normally last for 10 or 20 years depending on it’s type.

 requirement to getting patent rights
1) invention must be different form or an improvement upon a previous design. There is
a database tracing registered inventions. Applicants must check the database that there
innovation is distinct from all others to get patent rights.

2) In many nations like the US, patent rights are given to “the first to file” rather than
the “first to invent”. This means applicant not only have to be quick in innovating, but
also the legal process when filing for a patent.
 3 types of patents
1) utility patents: patents for invention, issue legal protection to people who invent a new and useful
process, an article of manufacture, a machine, or a composition of matter. Utility patents are the most
common type of patent, with more than 90% of patents issued by the US government belonging to
this category.A utility patent lasts for 20 years from the date of filing as long as maintenance fees are
paid.

2) design patents: Patents issued for original, new, and ornamental designs for manufactured
products. Design patents protect the design or look of something. They require the invention to
which the design belongs to be original and useful. Design patents last for 15 years. (example would
be 波子汽水 )

3) plant patents: Plant patents go to anyone who produces, discovers, and invents a new kind of plant
capable of reproduction. These patents are granted for 20 years from the date of filing and no
maintenance fees apply.
(investopedia)
 Key words:
Ever-greening-“Ever-greening,” is referred to the practice whereby pharmaceutical firms extend the patent life of a
drug by obtaining additional 20-year patents for minor reformulations or other iterations of the drug, without
necessarily increasing the therapeutic efficacy. (Sushmita R)

patent trolls- Patent trolling typically refers to when a person or company attempts to enforce patent rights against
accused infringers far beyond the patent's actual value or contribution, often through legal tactics. Patent trolls do not
manufacture products or supply services based upon the patents in question.

generic drugs- A generic drug is a pharmaceutical drug that contains the same chemical substance as a drug that was
originally protected by chemical patents. Generic drugs are allowed for sale after the patents on the original drugs
expire.

patent waivers- Patent waivers “alleviate” patent protect of innovations that the society desperately needs, for example
COVID vaccines.
PRO
 C1:
Innovation
 Links
-safeguarding R&D: The underlying logic here is that exclusivity patents provide gives products more
competitiveness in the market for a period of time. Research and development is extremely
expensive, so patents are needed to guarantee that the company can better profit off their product to
pay back for the money invested in the process of innovation. Noting that companies are profit
driven, they would only have the incentive to innovate if money can flow back. Added on, the budget
for new innovation also relies on the success of on market products.

-providing crucial information: When filing for a patent, companies must disclosed to the public
information on how to produce and use their product. There is statistics showing that 88% of
companies rely on information in patents to make new innovations.

-encourage breakthrough: Once many actors compete for patent rights, there is likely to be a “race”
to be the first. The number of actors is in positive correlation to the knowledge and new innovation
obtained because more people participate in the thinking process and can therefor generate more
diverse set of solutions to certain problems.
This can impact in many ways because a lot of technologies would not have existed without
patents
-This most commonly impacts on development of new life saving drugs

Several other unique examples:

(1) seat belts
(2) Carbon capture
(3) GMOs

Do note that to run these impacts, you need cards on how these would only have existed with
patents and the quantifiable impact that they can bring. (ie. Carbon capture can solve climate
change by reducing the amount of carbon in the atmosphere)
 C2:
Access
(1) Innovation is the key to having access. For example, generics
would not exist without someone inventing them in the first place.

(2) Market exclusivity given by patents decrease the amount of

money that has to be used on marketing which makes the product
less costly. That is why in Argentina (a nation without patents),
prices of drugs are twice of that in the US.
Unique contention:
vaccine hesitancy
 Without patent protection, many not experienced manufactures
are likely going to use technology developed by others to create
their own vaccines that have a higher chance to be unsanitary or
unsafe for a profit. This may lead to a few casualties, but more
importantly causes reluctance towards taking vaccines. This is
especially impactful in the status-quo because of covid. There is
also evidence on how outbreaks of vaccine conspiracy cause a
1.5times more protracted course of outbreaks of viruses.
CON
C1: Access
Logic:
(1) Companies with patent rights are the only ones who can sell certain products, which diminishes
competition that is crucial for driving down prices. Noting that companies are profit driven, they have
every incentive to increase those prices and make their innovation not affordably to many people. This
is especially harmful in the pharmaceutical industry because medicine is an inelastic product, and is
crucial to saving lives. Companies also ever-green their patents so that they can maintain the unfair
advantage in the market and prevent cheaper generics to out compete them.

(2) In the process of innovation, a lot of papers that have to be referenced and facilities that have to be
used during clinical trials are patented. This puts a large financial burden on companies because they
would have to purchase the license of all patented material needed in R&D process. For that reason,
many people argue that R&D is expensive because of patents. By increasing production costs, the
prices in which products are sold also increase in order for the company to gain net profits.
 This mainly impacts on lives because a lot innovation, such as drugs are life saving substances, and it
would be devastating if people do not have access.

Several examples:
(1) Insulin
Surging insulin prices have gotten so out of hand that 1 in 4 Americans are rationing their own
treatment, putting their lives in jeopardy, meaning around 1.75 million deaths.

(2) Hepatitis C
In many countries like Argentina Brazil, China, India, Ukraine, and Russia, they have patents on
hepatitis c medicine that costs 1000USD per pill and there are 700,000 people dying each year just from
hepatitis C due to the sky high prices of the cure.

Note that the high prices may not be entirely caused by patents, but if the link is built well enough, the
argument still stands.
C2: Innovation
 Logic: (1) patent trolls
Many inventors are sued by “patent trolls” and companies with more capital. This
means that once there is breakthrough, large companies can take legal action to
accuse the inventor of infringement even when the invention is different from the
original product. This is unfair for the inventor, and also decreases the incentive of
innovation.

(2) patents make R&D expensive

As already explained, companies have to buy patented material needed in R&D
process that increases financial burden. For that reason, many smaller firms are
unable to afford costly R&D caused by patents, which therefor decreases innovation.
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THE
END