The point is that the patent system is so deeply messed up an unjust that almost any move towards lessening the applicability of patents is a positive one. In t

The point is that the patent system is so deeply messed up an unjust that almost any move towards lessening the applicability of patents is a positive one. In these conversations, someone inevitably comes up with the "but what about the drug research" response. To avoid any worries that the drug research will cease if drugs are no longer patentable, the practical solution is to leave patents in place for drugs. Drugs are regulated in million of ways already. Patent system already has special provisions applicable only to drugs. Just craft the new intellectual property category that will cover 95% of ways patents are now used for pharmaceutical research and call it a day. It doesn't have to be justified from first principles or fully cover all the edge cases because: 1) patent system is already justified on purely consequentialist grounds (at least in the US) 2) existing patent system already fails basic sanity checks, let alone perfectly handling all the edge cases.