Ted Audio Collective Have you ever come up with a neat idea and thought,

I need to patent that?

Because in your mind, one day you'll make millions off your brilliance, making the urgency

of protecting your idea top of mind.

Countless individuals have experienced this, and countless ideas have gone through the

United States patent system.

Some with resounding commercial success, others with no sales on QVC.

And for those entrepreneurs who didn't end up patenting their ideas, likely years

of regret, like, remember the fidget spinner, that tiny little annoying toy that was so

darn popular a few years ago?

Well, it turns out the inventor couldn't afford the patent license, which meant anyone could

make a fidget spinner and sell it.

She didn't get to benefit fully from the success of her invention, which is really sad.

Generally speaking, when you come up with a good idea, shouldn't it be easy to protect

that idea?

And this is especially the case for really groundbreaking ideas, like medicines and technology.

The patent system ultimately exists for this purpose, but is there a scenario where our

current process for patenting ideas or inventions ends up hurting us?

I'm Madu Bakinola, this is Ted Business.

Our speaker today is Priti Krista, and she's been thinking a lot about drug patents,

which is one of the most broken systems in the United States.

Priti shares how a big increase in drug patents has led drug prices to skyrocket and offer

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