Where the worlds of psychedelics and capitalism collide, few topics have been more heavily debated than that of patents.
The most hotly argued story, of course, has been
Compass Pathways’ patent behavior, which some have dubbed “patent trolling.” On top of uncertainty of whether their “proprietary” psilocybin is
really unique at all, the company backed by Peter Thiel has also made claims for practices used in basically every therapy session. For example, as Shayla Love from
Vice points out, one Compass patent includes clauses such as having a room “with a substantially non-clinical appearance,” with “soft furniture,” that is “decorated using muted colors,” “comprises a high-resolution sound system,” and has “a bed or a couch.”
Yea, that sounds
totally fair and
not at all like patent over-reach trying to
own the concept of a relaxing, calm setting for psychedelic therapy.
But to think that this is a problem limited to one company would be naive. In fact, we are in something of a psychedelic patent gold rush right now, with companies sprinting to patent substances and technologies that many argue have been in the public domain for decades. Sticking with the gold rush metaphor, these bad patents could be considered
fools gold, only the fools are the public who will suffer.
And now, it appears, even individuals can get in on the mad dash and start mining.
As reported by
Psilocybin Alpha’s editor-at-large,
Graham Pechenik, a patent has been granted for the…
ahem…“invention” of a DMT Vape Pen. The patent also covers a vape pen for 5-MeO-DMT, and 2C-B. And rather than a company being granted this right, it goes to a sole “inventor.” And it just so happens that the day job of this “inventor” is a patent lawyer.......
psychedelicspotlight.com
