Patents have been back in the news, and not in a good way. The unsuccessful five- year- long attempt of a Black entrepreneur, Katrina Parrott, to get patent protection for emojis with different skin tones, as reported in a February 2023 Buzzfeed article, has drawn attention to the substantial hurdles that small and underrepresented innovators face in getting patents. As Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) noted in a February 2023 letter to U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) director Kathi Vidal, while Parrott's patent application continues to pend, Apple Inc., whom Parrott successfully sued for copyright infringement, was granted more than 2,500 patents in 2021 alone. While small firms often have trouble getting patents, large firms are under fire for getting too many patents--for example, covering different versions of the same pharmaceutical drug. AI- enabled innovation has also generated concerns about a flood of patent applications for items that are obvious variations of existing innovations. This February, a Senate committee heard testimony about how marginal patents are being used to delay competition and drive up prescription drug prices.
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