4 ms·
These are German researchers at a German university. Aren't they already publicly funded? (honest question, I don't know).
by Scarblac 10y ago
These are German researchers at a German university. Aren't they already publicly funded? (honest question, I don't know).
- fauigerzigerk 10y agoI don't know but it wouldn't make a difference as long as someone else could come along and take out a patent on what they found. This is the sort of thing that requires and international treaty.
- briancleland 10y agoI don't see any reason why the researchers couldn't have placed their discovery in the public domain, just as Tim Berners-Lee did with his ideas. Unfortunately many universities (and hence researchers) are under pressure to commercialise their IP, based on the assumption that such behaviour is beneficial to the economy.
- refurb 10y agoWell, which is easier? 1. Get a patent, find a commercial partner and investors who will give you a ton of money to develop it in the hopes of getting a return. 2. Make it public domain, remove any financial incentive to develop it, then try and convince whoever to give you hundreds of millions of dollars to develop it without any hope of financial return?
- briancleland 10y agoThose are not the only options. Free and open source innovations can create enormous economic opportunities - witness Linux, the Web, etc etc. Even now, unpatented medicines are widely commercially available and making some people a lot of money.
- refurb 10y agoCan you give examples of unpatented medicines making people a lot of money? The folks I know who work in generics complain about the razor thin margins.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- briancleland 10y agoThe article states that they are seeking a commercial partner, which suggests the research was indeed publicly funded.
- jakobegger 10y agoThe website[1] of the lead author, Andreas Peschel, lists funding at the bottom. Almost all projects are funded by the DFG. The DFG is an institution that funds research and is itself funded by taxpayer money. So yes, this research has been paid for by the German public. However, it is common for universities to apply for patents. Revenue from patent licensing is then usually shared between the university and the researchers. [1]: http://www.uni-tuebingen.de/fakultaeten/mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche-fakultaet/fachbereiche/interfakultaere-institute-und-zentren/imit/beteiligte-einheiten/infektionsbiologie.html http://www.uni-tuebingen.de/fakultaeten/mathematisch-naturwi...