On Nov. 19, the Emmaus High School debate team passionately went up against Whitehall High School on the topic of whether or not “the United States federal government should significantly strengthen its protection of domestic intellectual property rights in copyrights, patents, and/or trademarks,” with EHS being the affirmative and arguing for the federal government strengthening the protection and WHS arguing for the federal government not strengthening these protections. 

“You can’t always fix a problem by adding a factor,” Boden Reinford, opening speaker for EHS, said. Opening this debate, EHS strongly argued that current patents stifle innovation due to the fear of copyright. Opposed to just strengthening the protection of patents, EHS argued for strengthening the rights of the producer. They argued it is important to consider the rights of us, the consumer, along with patents advocating for our success as U.S. citizens. 

“Companies are trying to take advantage of the patents they already have,” Whitehall’s team countered, explaining the medical field aspect. “Companies renew patents, but only alter a small chemical change that does not affect the consumer,” WHS argued that the strengthening of the protection of patents will not only monopolize huge corporate companies, but also prevent small businesses from starting up along with being successful. In the end, WHS argued that they wanted to keep the patents the same as they are now and that if this system wasn’t successful already, then it would’ve already collapsed. 

Both sides argued logical points that kept the audience thinking and debating which side they stood on. Although both sides kept this debate a friendly competition, it was declared by the affirmative, EHS, that WHS went against the rules of the debate by discussing some irrelevant points. Both sides concluded with handshakes along with compliments about the other’s performance before exiting, keeping a friendly ground. EHS won.