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> The very nature of technology -- that costs are fixed and best maximized over huge user-bases, along with the presence of network effects -- mean there are gr
by throwawayjava 9y ago
> The very nature of technology -- that costs are fixed and best maximized over huge user-bases, along with the presence of network effects -- mean there are greater returns to innovation than ever before.
Patents are a mechanism for rewarding useful inventions.
The definition of "useful invention" is difficult to get right, and the current US patent system is quite a ways off from a reasonable definition.
However, I'm pretty sure the most societally beneficial definition of "useful invention" is not "perfect fodder for the ideal VC-funded startup" (aka fixed costs with exponential user base growth).
The author is correct that if an invention is perfect VC fodder, then patents aren't necessary. But the author is incorrect in the implicit assumption that any "useful invention" is necessarily perfect VC fodder.
- ekianjo 9y agopatents are a complete mess. Useful invention is a problematic term to begin with since there is a clear lack of prior art check, and improper definitions for what should be considered obvious vs non obvious. It just only works in favor of whoever has the largest team of IP lawyers in the end which is the antithesis of promoting inventions from every actor in the first place.
- throwawayjava 9y agoAs I said, >> the current US patent system is quite a ways off from a reasonable definition. But the road to effective IP law in the United States starts with understanding how invention happens. And "all useful inventions are VC-backed product-oriented B2C internet companies" is not a good model for how invention happens for the vast majority of useful inventions. Even in the past decade.