IPPI: The IP Policy Institute – The University of Akron School of Law

— Recent and Upcoming Highlights —

June 18 Webinar

Panel Discussion:
The Myths and Realities of Pharmaceutical Patents

Please join us on Thursday, June 18th, 2026, at 10:00 AM Eastern, for an exclusive webinar with IPPI scholars examining the myths and realities of pharmaceutical patents.

The conversation will feature Mark Schultz (Faculty Chair & Senior Scholar, IPPI) and Emily Michiko Morris (Associate Faculty Chair, Senior Fellow for Life Sciences, & Senior Scholar, IPPI) and will be moderated by Chris Israel (Executive Director of the Alliance of U.S. Startups & Inventors for Jobs).

In the wake of the recent House Judiciary Committee hearing on “Medicines and IP: Balancing Innovation and Access,” the panel will unpack prevailing narratives surrounding pharmaceutical patenting, innovation, and generic competition. Drawing on new IPPI research on so-called “patent thickets” and “evergreening,” the discussion will examine how pharmaceutical patents reflect the complex, ongoing process of developing and improving medicines — and why simplistic patent counting and common critiques of pharmaceutical patenting often fail to align with real-world evidence.

June 10 Webinar

Join us on Wednesday, June 10, from 1:00-2:30 PM EDT, for “IP at America’s 250th,” a virtual panel co-hosted by the Council for Innovation Promotion and IPPI: The IP Policy Institute as part of the WIPO-U.S. Summer School on IP!

America was born innovative. The Founders embedded intellectual property protection directly into the Constitution, and for 250 years the nation’s patent, copyright, trademark, and trade secret laws have powered everything from the cotton gin to the smartphone, and from the first American novel to the global entertainment industry.

This panel marks America’s 250th by telling the story of IP from the ground up. Whether you’re a practitioner, a policy wonk, or simply curious about the legal foundations of American ingenuity, you won’t want to miss this conversation with a group of seasoned IP experts, including Victoria Cundiff, David Gooder, The Hon. Andrei Iancu, and Karyn Temple as panelists, with Joshua Kresh as moderator.

New Policy Research on the Myths of
“Patent Thickets” and “Evergreening”

We’re pleased to share new policy research by IPPI scholars that separates myth from reality in current debates over pharmaceutical patents.

In this collection of short papers—”Pharmaceutical ‘Patent Thickets’ and “Pharmaceutical Patent ‘Evergreening'”—Mark Schultz and Douglas Park of IPPI: The Intellectual Property Policy Institute at The University of Akron School of Law, together with Jennifer Brant, IPPI Practitioner in Residence and Senior Advisor at Sidley, challenge common narratives about pharmaceutical patenting practices with real-world evidence.