There is a lot of political pressure to rescind patent protection for various technologies, in particular software and biotech. Much of this is coming from groups such as ffii.org in Europe and elsewhere.
A common argument is that patents cause higher prices for drugs, such as HIV-related drugs that save lives. Often, those in poor countries cannot afford the prices for the drugs. The fact that these people even have the opportunity to get life-saving drugs is solely the benefit of having a good patent system and by companies who patent their ideas and products.
In 1928, Sir Alexander Fleming observed the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus being destroyed by the mold Penicillium notatum. Fleming published his work but allegedly refused to patent the invention, hoping that it would save lives. Quite the opposite happened. For 20 years, tens of thousands and maybe millions of people died without the benefit of the most basic antibacterial agent of modern medicine. No one was willing to invest the effort to commercialize the medicine to the point where it could be manufactured and distributed in life saving doses until Andrew Moyer developed and patented a manufacturing method some 20 years later. This was done at the behest of the US military during the second World War.
