Chemical, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology companies spend large sums of money so that their employees burn the midnight oil and come up with great inventions, be it on a novel drug treat a heart disease or a process to make large quantities of a chemical used in the manufacture of a plastic. They know that patents are powerful when it comes to resisting competition. They also know that a patent provides an exclusive right up to twenty years. Thus, once they get their patent, they should be smiling all the way to the bank ...correct?
