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You just seem better off keeping your research secret for 10-15 years, and /then/ taking the patent.
by zeteo 16y ago
You just seem better off keeping your research secret for 10-15 years, and /then/ taking the patent.
- sp332 16y agoThe point of the patent system is to encourage inventors to publish their inventions without fear of having the idea stolen.
- mcknz 16y agoOdd. I always thought it was litigation.
- brazzy 16y agoWell, you thought wrong. Patents were intended (and, for the longest time, worked quite well) as a trade between inventors and society: the inventor gets a legal 20 year monopoly on using his invention, and the rest of the world learns how exactly it works so that they can use it freely afterwards.
- mcknz 16y agosorry, forgot the sarcasm tags.
- zeteo 16y agoBut the whole idea of my comment was that patents expire in 20 years!
- mcknz 16y agoThen again you run the risk of someone else beating you to the patent. I love those stories about how the famous creator/inventor of [some idea or device] published the discovery an hour/day/week before someone else.
- ars 16y agoThat's correct, but you run the risk of someone else patenting the idea first. So it's risky - but could pay off if you invent something far ahead of its time.