WASHINGTON (August 5, 2025) — Senators Peter Welch (D-VT), Josh Hawley (R-MO), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) recently introduced the Eliminating Thickets to Increase Competition (ETHIC) Act, S. 2276, in the U.S. Senate. This legislation would prohibit patent holders, specifically in the pharmaceutical sector, from asserting more than one patent out of a certain defined group of patents in infringement cases. Such a restriction poses a serious threat to innovation and undermines the foundation of American intellectual property (IP) rights.
Today, Frank Cullen, executive director of the Council for Innovation Promotion, issued the following statement urging Congress to reject the ETHIC Act in its entirety:
“Prohibiting the enforcement of validly issued U.S. patents destabilizes the entire innovation ecosystem. The ETHIC Act would erode the ability of patent holders to defend their inventions — across the life sciences sector — where multiple patents are essential given the complexity of innovation that goes into modern products.
“The bill advances a misleading narrative about so-called ‘patent thickets.’ In reality, many patents can be necessary to capture the full scope of all the inventions in sophisticated and complicated products, especially in highly advanced fields — and, as confirmed by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the number of patents is not correlated to the timing of generic entry. Rather, these patents are essential to adequately protect complex inventions and, in turn, provide the necessary incentive for future innovation in these fields.
“Limiting the innovators’ ability to enforce these patents would strip companies — especially startups — of the tools they need to attract investment, build partnerships, and bring new technologies to market. Weakening patent rights does not foster competition; it chokes off the development of future cures. A sector-specific measure like the ETHIC Act risks setting a dangerous precedent — inviting broader efforts to weaken the patent system and erode protections across all innovative industries.
“This bill would impose an arbitrary, unnecessary burden on American inventors when no significant problem of delayed generic entry exists. As a result, C4IP will score support for the ETHIC Act negatively in future editions of the Congressional Innovation Scorecard. Congressional lawmakers should oppose the ETHIC Act and instead focus on strengthening the IP system that fuels life-changing U.S. innovation.”
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About the Council for Innovation Promotion: The Council for Innovation Promotion is a bipartisan coalition dedicated to promoting strong and effective intellectual property rights that drive innovation, boost economic competitiveness, and improve lives everywhere.