Ever since the vaccine race began, the debate on whether or not to put a patent on the vaccines has raged forward. Recently, the concept of patenting the vaccine got put to rest, with many companies deciding to waive the vaccine patents in an effort to suppress this pandemic. Despite the conclusion to this story, it sparked a question in many consumers and business owners. Do patents need to be ethical?
The idea of limiting a technology that could potentially help others behind a wall of litigation seems undoubtedly confusing at first glance. However, it truly comes down to whether the technology has a wide application to those who may have income problems or if they have a more straightforward usage. For example, the pricing of insulin surged after companies began price gouging to high levels. The strangest aspect about the pricing surrounds the fact that the companies making the price increases don’t even have a patent on the technology. They’ve just coordinated insulin price hikes out of greed, so negating patents doesn't solve the problem entirely. The Senate presented a number of bills in the past in an attempt to allow for the government to curb the issue.
Patents have also limited the ideas that have innovated society for ages. Oftentimes, patent squatters sit on incredibly general technologies to sue companies and inventors for using them. The amount of potentially life-changing and not to mention cheap products that can be created without patents remain astronomical. People can make a whole living off products they barely even have a role in creating. That doesn’t sound to me like they help the world in a way that those inventors potentially could.
However, patents can also help protect the innovations of those inventors. General patents may have many detrimental effects, but specific patents can help protect the creator’s ideas. Otherwise, companies would just be able to begin creating knockoffs of any product with potential instantly. They’d also be able to set the price immediately because of the reach they already have. The marketing budget quickly outreaches anything a small business would have. With patents, inventors can market their products the way they want and set the price for the devices.
Personally, I think the patent debate solves itself when categorizing the products that get patented every day. The basic needs of humans fall into the categories of food, medicine, shelter, and water. If your product relates to these categories, perhaps you should take one for the rest of society and let everyone have access to the technology. Otherwise, inventions, especially modern inventions, fall as superficial items. Patent these all you wish. This model displays where the products should be priced highly and encourages competition, because that product shows as a brainchild that fills a use, not a need.
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