One solution: Offer drug companies a set period of exclusivity, without fear of patent challenges, after a drug is approved.

FORBES: Drug Patent Peril

Ending patent protection usually requires a law suit, because the patent owner files follow-on patents of lesser merit to extend the patent period, and a court has to decide at what point the incremental patents are invalid.

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Earnings were also hurt as Pfizer entered into a period many analysts are calling a patent black hole, as many of its biggest drugs go generic.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Earnings were also hurt as Pfizer (nyse: PFE - news - people ) entered into a period many analysts are calling a patent black hole, as many of its biggest drugs go generic.

FORBES: Losing Lipitor

But U.S. patent law still gives TQP a six-year period when it can sue companies for prior infringement of the defunct patent.

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Under the law, generic manufacturers got a sort of junior patent if they were the first to challenge, a 180-day exclusive period to sell competing versions of a drug after they won their challenge and got set up for manufacturing.

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If EchoStar prevails, similarly-situated companies will have even less incentive to seek out deals with patent-holders, instead relying on the courts to carve out for them an extended period of unlicensed use with a bill that comes due years later assuming the patent holder can afford to litigate for years and in an amount almost certainly far below the actual benefit conferred.

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The purpose of our patent system is to allow the inventor, for a fixed period of time, to reap the fruits of his labor.

FORBES: Fact and Comment

Patent law gives inventors the exclusive rights to use or license their inventions, for a fixed period of time, to encourage disclosure and allow them to benefit from and recoup the cost of their invention.

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