File this under “unintended consequences.”
Over the past few months, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has pursued new policies that its officials insist will preserve patents from unnecessary legal challenges and strengthen the system for protecting innovation.
But critics — including some drug companies — argue the moves would undercut a valuable process for confirming whether patents remain valid and, therefore, make it much more difficult for companies to bring lower-cost medicines to consumers. As a result, in their view, the changes threaten to contradict — and undermine — a key goal of the Trump administration.
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