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Factfinder2 ago

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/qualifying-patent-faq.html

According to nolo.com, utility patents (as opposed to [nonfunctional] design or plant patents) must "have some usefulness (utility), no matter how trivial."

...

"To fulfill this requirement, the invention must work, at least in theory. Thus, a new approach to manufacturing superconducting materials may qualify for a patent if it has a sound theoretical basis, even if it hasn't yet been shown to work in practice."

carmencita ago

Boy if that doesn't sound like a runaround. Perfect for Big Pharma. Possibly they are working on this MK project right now or already have done so. Or it's all a fabrication as the OP says.

EffYouJohnPodesta ago

There are all kinds of products not under the FDA's jurisdiction that do have patents. Sometimes things you would think should be a medical device aren't, so they can be designed by whomever, and get a patent, and it would be similar to a supplement maker selling something that falls outside of the FDA, it cannot be regulated. The efficacy may come into question from anyone curious enough to question it. But the real litigation would be from competitors using similar designs and getting patents and having the patent challenged under intellectual property laws.

carmencita ago

They also have been allowed to create medicines without the proper seal of approval. So all kinds of things are out here. Who knows what.