You still need FDA approval to develop a generic. The FDA will not approvea generic unless both the patents and other legal exclusivities (I think the FDA somet

You still need FDA approval to develop a generic. The FDA will not approvea generic unless both the patents and other legal exclusivities (I think the FDA sometimes grants exclusivity beyonbd the end of the patent). If patents were abolished, the FDA could instead be authorized to blanket grant such exclusivity to genuinely new drugs, with pretty much the same effect as patents.