Intellectual Property Rights Are Protected by Patents

question 38

Essay

Intellectual property rights are protected by patents.One of the controversial aspects of the patent system is the patents that are granted to pharmaceutical companies.Critics of the patent system claim that these increase the price of life-saving drugs and make them unaffordable to the poor.For example,patents restrict the availability of AIDS medicine in developing countries that require them the most.What would happen if drugs were not allowed to be patented in the interests of increasing their availability at a lower price? How do the long-run and short-run effects differ?

---

Definitions:

Hornworts

A group of non-vascular plants belonging to the division Anthocerotophyta, characterized by a horn-like structure which is the sporophyte growing from a flat, green thallus.

Alternation of Generations

A type of life cycle characteristic of plants and a few algae and fungi in which they spend part of their life in a multicellular n gametophyte stage and part in a multicellular 2n sporophyte stage.

Gametophyte

The reproductive stage in the life cycle of plants and algae where gametes, the cells responsible for reproduction, are created.

Sporophyte

The diploid multicellular stage in the life cycle of plants and algae that produces spores through meiotic division.