0:00:01.135,0:00:04.952
For my husband,[br]it was love at first sight.

0:00:04.976,0:00:06.246
(Laughter)

0:00:06.270,0:00:07.865
Here's what happened.

0:00:07.889,0:00:09.839
Years ago, Rudy,

0:00:09.863,0:00:13.926
who I had strictly put[br]in the friend zone at the time,

0:00:13.950,0:00:16.410
came over to my house and met my dad,

0:00:16.434,0:00:19.552
a pharmaceutical scientist[br]who had just retired

0:00:19.576,0:00:21.783
after bringing a drug to market.

0:00:22.339,0:00:23.672
My dad said,

0:00:23.696,0:00:25.747
"Ah, you probably[br]wouldn't have heard of it.

0:00:25.771,0:00:27.302
It's for IPF,

0:00:27.326,0:00:30.334
idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis."

0:00:30.644,0:00:34.564
Rudy paused for a long time,[br]and then he said,

0:00:34.588,0:00:39.065
"That's the disease that took[br]my father's life 15 years ago."

0:00:40.016,0:00:43.103
Rudy says that this[br]is the moment he fell in love.

0:00:43.127,0:00:44.895
(Laughter)

0:00:44.919,0:00:46.071
With my father.

0:00:46.095,0:00:48.243
(Laughter)

0:00:48.847,0:00:52.339
Even though it was too late[br]for my dad to save his,

0:00:52.363,0:00:56.186
he felt that destiny had delivered us[br]this full-circle moment.

0:00:57.224,0:01:01.565
In my family, we have a special love[br]for my father's inventions.

0:01:01.589,0:01:04.950
And in particular, we have[br]a reverence for his patents.

0:01:05.498,0:01:09.459
We have framed patents[br]on the wall in our house.

0:01:09.887,0:01:14.547
And there's a recognition in our family[br]that everything I've been able to do --

0:01:14.571,0:01:17.936
college, law school,[br]health justice work --

0:01:17.960,0:01:21.285
all of it is because America[br]enabled my father

0:01:21.309,0:01:24.661
to fulfill his potential as an inventor.

0:01:25.411,0:01:29.919
(Applause)

0:01:30.363,0:01:34.042
Last year, I met the director[br]of the US Patent Office

0:01:34.066,0:01:35.257
for the first time,

0:01:35.281,0:01:38.956
and I sent my family a selfie[br]from that office in Virginia.

0:01:38.980,0:01:39.981
(Laughter)

0:01:40.005,0:01:41.900
I got so many emojis back,

0:01:41.924,0:01:44.325
you would have thought I had met Beyoncé.

0:01:44.349,0:01:45.647
(Laughter)

0:01:46.187,0:01:47.347
But truth be told,

0:01:47.371,0:01:49.752
I was actually there[br]to talk about a problem --

0:01:49.776,0:01:54.831
how our outdated patent system[br]is fueling the high cost of medicines

0:01:54.855,0:01:56.632
and costing lives.

0:01:57.315,0:02:01.672
Today, over two billion people[br]live without access to medicines.

0:02:01.696,0:02:03.656
And against this global crisis,

0:02:03.680,0:02:05.926
drug prices are skyrocketing,

0:02:05.950,0:02:08.331
including in wealthier countries.

0:02:08.355,0:02:13.176
Thirty-four million Americans[br]have lost a family member or a friend

0:02:13.200,0:02:15.057
in the last five years,

0:02:15.081,0:02:17.382
not because the treatment didn't exist,

0:02:17.406,0:02:19.663
but because they couldn't afford it.

0:02:20.287,0:02:24.224
Rising drug costs are pushing[br]families into homelessness,

0:02:24.248,0:02:26.581
seniors into bankruptcy

0:02:26.605,0:02:30.938
and parents to crowdfunding treatment[br]for their critically ill children.

0:02:31.919,0:02:34.990
There are many reasons for this crisis,

0:02:35.014,0:02:38.418
but one is the outdated patent system

0:02:38.442,0:02:42.109
that America tries to export[br]to the rest of the world.

0:02:43.026,0:02:45.689
The original intention[br]behind the patent system

0:02:45.713,0:02:48.240
was to motivate people to invent

0:02:48.264,0:02:51.852
by rewarding them[br]with a time-limited monopoly.

0:02:51.876,0:02:56.177
But today, that intention[br]has been distorted beyond recognition.

0:02:56.661,0:02:59.884
Corporations have teams[br]of lawyers and lobbyists

0:02:59.908,0:03:05.192
whose sole job is to extend[br]patent protection as long as possible.

0:03:05.795,0:03:08.731
And they've kept the patent office busy.

0:03:08.755,0:03:12.403
It took 155 years for the US Patent Office

0:03:12.427,0:03:15.125
to issue its first five million patents.

0:03:15.149,0:03:20.228
It took just 27 years[br]for it to issue the next five million.

0:03:20.704,0:03:23.795
We haven't gotten[br]drastically more inventive.

0:03:23.819,0:03:28.477
Corporations have gotten[br]drastically better at gaming the system.

0:03:28.946,0:03:31.200
Drug patents have exploded --

0:03:31.224,0:03:35.931
between 2006 and 2016, they doubled.

0:03:36.246,0:03:37.976
But consider this:

0:03:38.659,0:03:44.310
The vast majority of medicines[br]associated with new drug patents

0:03:44.334,0:03:45.593
are not new.

0:03:45.617,0:03:49.688
Nearly eight out of 10[br]are for existing ones,

0:03:49.712,0:03:52.656
like insulin or aspirin.

0:03:53.133,0:03:56.926
My organization,[br]a team of lawyers and scientists,

0:03:56.950,0:04:02.529
recently conducted an investigation[br]into the 12 best-selling drugs in America.

0:04:02.553,0:04:04.664
We found that, on average,

0:04:04.688,0:04:09.759
there are 125 patents[br]filed on each medicine.

0:04:10.204,0:04:13.395
Often for things we've known[br]how to do for decades,

0:04:13.419,0:04:16.278
like putting two pills into one.

0:04:16.855,0:04:19.966
The higher a patent wall a company builds,

0:04:19.990,0:04:22.626
the longer they hold on to their monopoly.

0:04:22.650,0:04:24.951
And with no one to compete with,

0:04:24.975,0:04:27.292
they can set prices at whim.

0:04:27.316,0:04:29.308
And because these are medicines

0:04:29.332,0:04:31.419
and not designer watches,

0:04:31.443,0:04:33.991
we have no choice but to pay.

0:04:34.678,0:04:38.693
The patent wall is a strategy[br]to block competition.

0:04:39.075,0:04:42.268
Not for the 14 years maximum

0:04:42.292,0:04:45.963
that America's founders[br]originally envisioned,

0:04:45.987,0:04:49.371
or the 20 years allowed by law today,

0:04:49.395,0:04:52.402
but for 40 years or more.

0:04:52.854,0:04:56.679
Meanwhile, prices on these drugs[br]have continued to increase --

0:04:56.703,0:04:59.632
68 percent since 2012.

0:05:00.306,0:05:04.021
That's seven times the rate of inflation.

0:05:04.728,0:05:07.347
And people are struggling or even dying,

0:05:07.371,0:05:09.704
because they can't afford the meds.

0:05:10.912,0:05:13.444
Now I want to be really clear[br]about something.

0:05:13.468,0:05:17.499
This isn't about making[br]the pharmaceutical industry the bad guy.

0:05:17.523,0:05:19.659
What I'm talking about today

0:05:19.683,0:05:23.677
is whether the system we created[br]to promote progress

0:05:23.701,0:05:26.264
is actually working as intended.

0:05:27.121,0:05:31.034
Sure, the pharmaceutical companies[br]are gaming the system,

0:05:31.058,0:05:34.016
but they're gaming it because they can.

0:05:34.040,0:05:37.656
Because we have failed[br]to adapt this system

0:05:37.680,0:05:40.127
to meet today's realities.

0:05:40.151,0:05:41.755
The government is handing out

0:05:41.779,0:05:45.093
one of the most prized[br]rewards in business --

0:05:45.117,0:05:50.466
the opportunity to create a product[br]that is protected from competition --

0:05:50.490,0:05:54.236
and asking for less and less[br]in return on our behalf.

0:05:54.720,0:06:00.720
Imagine awarding 100 Pulitzer Prizes[br]to one author for the same book.

0:06:00.744,0:06:02.021
(Murmurs)

0:06:02.735,0:06:04.695
It doesn't have to be this way.

0:06:04.719,0:06:07.776
We can create a modern patent system

0:06:07.800,0:06:11.219
to meet the needs[br]of a 21st-century society.

0:06:11.243,0:06:12.442
And to do that,

0:06:12.466,0:06:15.823
we need to reimagine the patent system[br]to serve the public,

0:06:15.847,0:06:17.934
not just corporations.

0:06:18.736,0:06:20.003
So how do we do it?

0:06:20.752,0:06:22.172
Five reforms.

0:06:22.633,0:06:26.332
First, we need to stop[br]handing out so many patents.

0:06:27.077,0:06:29.181
Back under the Kennedy administration,

0:06:29.205,0:06:32.753
in an effort to curb rising drug costs,

0:06:32.777,0:06:35.738
a congressman from Tennessee[br]proposed an idea.

0:06:36.211,0:06:37.528
He said,

0:06:37.552,0:06:39.156
"If you want to tweak a drug,

0:06:39.180,0:06:41.576
and you want to get another patent on it,

0:06:41.600,0:06:45.768
the modified version has to be[br]significantly better, therapeutically,

0:06:45.792,0:06:46.942
for patients."

0:06:47.419,0:06:49.037
Because of intense lobbying,

0:06:49.061,0:06:51.528
this idea never saw the light of day.

0:06:52.464,0:06:55.075
But a reimagined patent system

0:06:55.099,0:07:00.123
would resurrect and evolve[br]this simple, yet elegant proposition.

0:07:00.147,0:07:01.543
That to get a patent,

0:07:01.567,0:07:04.813
you have to invent something[br]substantially better

0:07:04.837,0:07:06.892
than what's already out there.

0:07:06.916,0:07:09.241
This shouldn't be controversial.

0:07:09.265,0:07:10.662
As a society,

0:07:10.686,0:07:14.918
we reserve the big rewards[br]for the big ideas.

0:07:14.942,0:07:19.109
We don't give Michelin stars[br]to chefs who just tweak a recipe --

0:07:19.133,0:07:23.555
we give them to chefs who change[br]how we think about food.

0:07:23.579,0:07:26.602
And yet, we hand out patents[br]worth billions of dollars

0:07:26.626,0:07:28.499
for minor changes.

0:07:28.523,0:07:30.323
It's time to raise the bar.

0:07:31.499,0:07:33.077
Second,

0:07:33.101,0:07:37.514
we need to change the financial incentives[br]of the Patent Office.

0:07:37.538,0:07:40.093
Right now, the revenue[br]of the Patent Office

0:07:40.117,0:07:44.013
is directly linked to the number[br]of patents that it grants.

0:07:45.292,0:07:50.879
That's like private prisons[br]getting paid more to hold more people --

0:07:50.903,0:07:54.680
it naturally leads to more incarceration,

0:07:54.704,0:07:56.101
not less.

0:07:56.125,0:07:58.696
The same is true for patents.

0:08:00.173,0:08:04.069
Third, we need more public participation.

0:08:04.093,0:08:07.180
Right now, the patent system[br]is like a black box.

0:08:07.204,0:08:12.629
It's a two-way conversation[br]between the patent office and industry.

0:08:12.653,0:08:15.700
You and I aren't invited to that party.

0:08:16.454,0:08:18.541
But imagine if instead,

0:08:18.565,0:08:24.197
the Patent Office became a dynamic center[br]for citizen learning and ingenuity,

0:08:24.221,0:08:28.269
staffed not just by technical[br]experts and bureaucrats,

0:08:28.293,0:08:31.706
but also by great[br]public-health storytellers

0:08:31.730,0:08:34.109
with a passion for science.

0:08:34.133,0:08:38.056
Regular citizens could get[br]accessible information

0:08:38.080,0:08:40.087
about complex technologies

0:08:40.111,0:08:43.940
like artificial intelligence[br]or gene editing,

0:08:43.964,0:08:48.503
enabling us to participate[br]in the policy conversations

0:08:48.527,0:08:51.963
that directly impact our health and lives.

0:08:53.948,0:08:55.098
Fourth,

0:08:56.095,0:08:58.761
we need to get the right to go to court.

0:08:59.245,0:09:02.888
Right now in America,[br]after a patent is granted,

0:09:02.912,0:09:05.570
the public has no legal standing.

0:09:05.895,0:09:10.807
Only those with a commercial interest,[br]usually other drug companies,

0:09:10.831,0:09:12.243
have that right.

0:09:12.680,0:09:16.387
But I've witnessed firsthand[br]how lives can be saved

0:09:16.411,0:09:19.831
when everyday citizens[br]have the right to go to court.

0:09:20.720,0:09:22.929
Back in 2006 in India,

0:09:22.953,0:09:26.072
my organization worked[br]with patient advocates

0:09:26.096,0:09:30.493
to challenge, legally,[br]unjust HIV drug patents,

0:09:30.517,0:09:33.450
at a time when so many people were dying,

0:09:33.474,0:09:36.244
because medicines[br]were priced out of reach.

0:09:36.268,0:09:38.806
We were able to bring down[br]the prices of medicines

0:09:38.830,0:09:40.982
by up to 87 percent.

0:09:41.006,0:09:45.823
(Applause)

0:09:45.847,0:09:47.735
On just three drugs,

0:09:47.759,0:09:51.672
we were able to save health systems[br]half a billion dollars.

0:09:52.212,0:09:57.276
Now, cases like these[br]can save millions of lives

0:09:57.300,0:09:59.410
and billions of dollars.

0:09:59.434,0:10:03.253
Imagine if Americans[br]had the right to go to court, too.

0:10:05.259,0:10:08.870
And lastly, we need stronger oversight.

0:10:09.969,0:10:15.477
We need an independent unit[br]that can serve as a public advocate,

0:10:15.501,0:10:18.969
regularly monitoring the activities[br]of the Patent Office

0:10:18.993,0:10:20.949
and reporting to Congress.

0:10:21.592,0:10:23.585
If a unit like this had existed,

0:10:23.609,0:10:28.243
it would have caught, for example,[br]the Silicon Valley company Theranos

0:10:28.267,0:10:32.022
before it got so many patents[br]for blood testing

0:10:32.046,0:10:35.569
and landed an evaluation[br]of nine billion dollars,

0:10:35.593,0:10:36.847
when in reality,

0:10:36.871,0:10:39.271
there was no invention there at all.

0:10:39.673,0:10:44.585
This kind of accountability[br]is going to become increasingly urgent.

0:10:44.609,0:10:46.870
In the age of 23andMe,

0:10:46.894,0:10:49.008
important questions are being asked

0:10:49.032,0:10:52.291
about whether companies[br]can patent and sell

0:10:52.315,0:10:55.980
our genetic information[br]and our patient data.

0:10:56.004,0:10:58.678
We need to be part of those conversations

0:10:58.702,0:11:00.281
before it's too late.

0:11:00.821,0:11:05.109
Our information is being used[br]to create the new therapies.

0:11:05.133,0:11:09.672
And when that moment of diagnosis[br]comes for me and my family,

0:11:09.696,0:11:11.593
or for you and yours,

0:11:11.617,0:11:15.834
are we going to have to crowdfund[br]to save the lives of those we love?

0:11:16.660,0:11:19.160
That's not the world I want to live in.

0:11:19.184,0:11:22.584
It's not the world I want[br]for my two-year-old son.

0:11:24.260,0:11:28.164
My dad is growing older now,

0:11:28.188,0:11:32.985
and he is still as quietly brilliant[br]and morally directed as ever.

0:11:33.478,0:11:37.390
Sometimes people ask us[br]whether things get heated between us:

0:11:37.414,0:11:39.279
the patent-holding scientist

0:11:39.303,0:11:42.036
and his patent-reforming lawyer daughter.

0:11:43.377,0:11:47.978
It's such a profound misunderstanding[br]of what's at stake,

0:11:48.002,0:11:51.981
because this is not[br]about scientists versus activists,

0:11:52.005,0:11:54.716
or invention versus protection.

0:11:54.740,0:11:56.788
This is about people,

0:11:56.812,0:12:00.137
our quest to invent and our right to live.

0:12:00.629,0:12:04.766
My dad and I understand[br]that our ingenuity and our dignity

0:12:04.790,0:12:07.257
go hand in hand.

0:12:07.281,0:12:09.567
We are on the same side.

0:12:09.868,0:12:13.098
It is time to reimagine a patent system

0:12:13.122,0:12:15.304
that reflects that knowing.

0:12:15.710,0:12:16.860
Thank you.

0:12:16.884,0:12:21.500
(Applause)