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> Patents and the entire field of IP law exists to give innovators and creators more incentives to take on risky or costly projects that ultimately provide valu
by Xichekolas 17y ago
> Patents and the entire field of IP law exists to give innovators and creators more incentives to take on risky or costly projects that ultimately provide value.
This may be true, but has anyone ever verified that IP law actually brings about more innovation? It certainly provides a legal framework to build a business around a new idea, but it's unclear to me whether it actually causes people to come up with more new ideas.
- greendestiny 17y agoThere are no areas of computer science that seem to rely on patents to make investment worthwhile. The closest would be compression I guess, but unpatented video compression techniques seem to be advancing just fine. The inherently low cost of computing research means there is a massive amount of invention without the help of patents, and in those circumstances patents are just getting in the way.