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0 pointswtallis14y ago0 comments

You're misunderstanding the purpose of patents. They're not a reward to be granted for every useful invention. Patents exist only to be an incentive for innovation. In almost every case where several inventors are competing to get the invention ready to patent, there is enough natural incentive that the patent is not necessary. In those cases, granting a patent can just as easily slow down the pace of technological progress, by forcing every inventor that didn't get the patent to either stop working in that area or negotiate a patent license before they can continue working to improve the invention.

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4 comments · 1 top-level

saulrh14y ago· 3 in thread

They give an incentive for innovation by granting the original inventor time to bring his invention to market before an established entity uses its existing resources to block him out. This model isn't very useful to software, but it works perfectly fine with cars and tractors and other things that take five years from concept to product.

One trivial improvement might be to split patents the same way that major research recognitions are split. If two people come up with something simultaneously and independently, why not give it to both of them?

quadhome14y ago

You're both missing the very important compromise of patents.

The temporary monopoly patents give were and are understood to be harmful. But, they're less harmful than a world of trade secrets. Which is what we had, before patents. See: guilds.

So, we the public offer intellectual property. And, in return, the details of that property become public from the very beginning. And, after a few years, everyone has freedom and the instructions on how to make or do whatever.

teyc14y ago

Exactly. If the state of the world is that people can separately come up with the same "trade secrets", then there is a case against it being patentable.

rwallace14y ago

And that is the fundamental fallacy. Trade secrets are far, far less harmful than patents. If you keep your work a trade secret, your customers still benefit and in the worst case you have at least done no harm. Patent trolls destroy far more value than they steal.

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