WASHINGTON, D.C., June 3, 2026 – On Thursday, June 4, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet will hold a hearing titled “Medicines and IP: Balancing Innovation and Access,” examining patent reform policies to make prescription drugs more affordable for American patients. The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) praises the subcommittee for highlighting the need to reform the current patent review process by advancing the Eliminating Thickets to Increase Competition Act (ETHIC Act) (H.R. 3269). The legislation, which has bipartisan support in the House and Senate, was introduced by Representatives Jodey Arrington (R-TX), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Darrell Issa (R-CA), and Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) in 2025 and is designed to lower prescription drug costs by addressing patent gamesmanship.
“While the patent system was developed to reward the innovation and risk that goes into producing drugs, it was never meant to be the golden goose that laid eggs forever. Too often though, abusive patent practices have allowed brand-name drugmakers to create a litigation bottleneck, so they can continue to profit long after they should,” said Melissa Bartlett, Senior Vice President of Health Policy for ERIC. “The ETHIC Act strikes a balance so that the brand-name manufacturer has their day in court, but not endless days at the expense of the rest of us who are left without access to more affordable drugs that so many need.”
TheETHIC Act limits the number of patents or patent claims a drug company can make. This requires them to make the best case, rather than flooding the courts with multiple lawsuits — a practice often employed to drown generic manufacturers in costly litigation, which keeps affordable options from more quickly coming to market. Through research by Anne S. Layne-Farrar, on average, patent litigation takes about three years to complete and costs roughly $3 million per patent with the appeal of the decision tacking on an additional one to two years and requiring additional substantial investment. While patent law is intended by Congress to reward and encourage genuine innovation, it was never intended to unfairly prolong drug companies’ already-lengthy monopoly periods. As prescription drug costs continue to rise across the employer-based system, more than 160 million workers and families are seeing higher premiums, steeper deductibles, and rising out-of-pocket costs. Today, more than 24 cents of every premium dollar goes toward prescription drugs. ERIC joined Patients For Affordable Drugs Now and AARP in a letter to congressional leadership expressing strong support for the bipartisan ETHIC Act. Nearly two dozen groups representing employers, pharmacists, think tanks, and consumers also wrote to the Judiciary Committee endorsing the legislation and urged the committee to advance the bill so it could be considered for a vote before the full U.S. House of Representatives.
Bartlett added, “Right now, far too many Americans are being priced out of the medications they need. The ETHIC Act is a critical tool to help address costs, and there is strong support across a community of stakeholders to make this much-needed relief a reality.”
In addition to its public comments surrounding the hearing, ERIC submitted a statement for the hearing record outlining its support for the ETHIC Act and other policies to curb abusive patent practices that keep lower-cost medicines off the market. ERIC also produced an informational video explaining how the ETHIC Act would help address patent thickets and improve access to more affordable prescription drugs.