Cutting the Length of Patents . Suppose a group of consumer activists claims drug companies earn excessive profits because of the patents they have on drugs. The activists advocate cutting the length...

Cutting the Length of Patents. Suppose a group of consumer activists claims drug companies earn excessive profits because of the patents they have on drugs. The activists advocate cutting the length of time that a drug company can hold a patent to 5 years. They argue that this will lead to lower prices for drugs because competitors will enter the market after the 5-year period. Do you see any drawbacks to this proposal?