Lisbon Conference - Panel IV - Intellectual property and competition - complementary policies ? The case of the software and pharmaceutical industries (14-15th January 2010)

Does patent protection restrict U.S. drug use ? The impact of patent expiration on U.S. drug prices, marketing, and utilization Franck R. LICHTENBERG*, Columbia University National Bureau of Economic Research, Faculty Fellow, Lerner Center Gautier DUFLOS*, University of Paris I, Paris School of Economics * We are extremely grateful to the Blanche & Irwin Lerner Center for Pharmaceutical Management Studies at Rutgers University, and to its Director, Mahmud Hassan, for providing IMS Health data to us. I. Background and objectives 1. U.S. patent law is based on Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, which states that “the Congress shall have power to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to