Members of Congress, companies and government agencies want the Patent Office to change policies that they say impede generic drug competition. The latest effort is focused on PTO’s discretionary denial of inter partes review petitions, which is the subject of a bipartisan congressional letter and cert petition to the US Supreme Court.

US Senate hearing on pharmaceutical competition brought renewed interest to idea of pruning so-called ‘patent thickets.’ But the choking growth of legislative proposals may itself by hampering progress on Capitol Hill.

Trade group’s new agenda offers few original solutions to tackle US drug costs, relying on old standbys and reminders of what medical innovation might be lost if industry is financially targeted by policy makers with a strong nod to drug manufacturers role the current pandemic.