4 ms·
great way to screw over the small patent holders. A big corporation can afford to pay 100,000 to keep a patent, a small time inventor would go broke by year 3
by vaksel 17y ago
great way to screw over the small patent holders. A big corporation can afford to pay 100,000 to keep a patent, a small time inventor would go broke by year 3
- alextp 17y agoThey wouldn't go broke, they'd just stop charging the fees.
- lutorm 17y agoIf the revenue they get from the patent makes the patent worth holding, then they wouldn't. And if they don't make 100k off of it, then maybe it's not worth holding the patent for longer? The example rises a bit steeper and starts lower than I would have suggested, but it seems reasonable to me. After all, the supposed point of patents is to make it commercially valuable to invest in research by giving you a guaranteed return if the research pays off. If you're not getting any money from your patent, then you're no worse off releasing it than sitting on it for nothing. But society will be better off if patents that aren't used are eliminated.