5 ms·
How did seatbelts in cars overcome this issue? Are there loopholes available for "overwhelming societal influence"?
by beambot 9y ago
How did seatbelts in cars overcome this issue? Are there loopholes available for "overwhelming societal influence"?
- nickhalfasleep 9y agoIn the case of three-point seatbelts, Volvo gave the patent away. "They decided that the invention was so significant, it had more value as a free life saving tool than something to profit from." http://jalopnik.com/volvo-gave-away-their-most-important-invention-to-save-1069825878 http://jalopnik.com/volvo-gave-away-their-most-important-inv...
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- pc86 9y agoVolvo held the patent for the 3-point seat belt and voluntarily gave it up. Being able to say "well on second thought, this invention is just so good we actually want to give it away" would be a chilling effect on exactly the inventions we want - those with overwhelming positive societal influence.