Patents, Pills, and Pricing: Breaking Through the Thicket of Pharma Protection

Patent thickets are becoming more pertinent in the United States every day. They unnecessarily extend a pharmaceutical company’s monopoly over a drug, prevent generics and biosimilars from entering the market, force Americans to pay high prices for medications, and bring fear to the lives of those who need special drugs to survive. Yet despite all these prevalent issues, few Americans even know what a patent thicket is. And for those who do, their attempts to bring them to an end have been utterly futile. This Comment discusses the mechanisms that comprise patent thickets and highlights the specific issues that each mechanism creates. With a concoction of domestic, foreign, and novel insight, this Comment suggests that, to put a stop to patent thickets, each mechanism must be addressed from multiple angles and subdued accordingly.