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Has the idea of a patent tax ever been explored? Basically, increasing the cost of filing patents incrementally to regulate excessive patenting and encourage c
by rjtrickett 8y ago
Has the idea of a patent tax ever been explored?
Basically, increasing the cost of filing patents incrementally to regulate excessive patenting and encourage companies to be more selective.
- em3rgent0rdr 8y agohmm...then wouldn't the companies just create spin-off companies which they own. Or instead just submit the patent in the name of the employee who invented it, but have a contract with the employee to license the patent to the company.
- beefield 8y agoI have thought of a scheme where the first couple of years of IP are free and after that heavily progressively taxed over time ( e.g 1000 usd on third year and doubling each year after that. Once the ip holder does not pay the tax, IP becomes automatically public domain. Unfortunately Berne convention has been written in a way that basically does not allow any kind of taxation of IP in arts and literary works. Which, of course, is amazing, mindboggling power grab by IP industry, done already in 18th century.
- ascar 8y agoArt and literature and patents are a fundamentally different law construct with different background and purpose. Generalizing patents and copyright as IP is a fallacy and leads to wrong conclusions. I recommend reading this article by Richard Stallmann on this topic https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/not-ipr.html https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/not-ipr.html
- taejo 8y ago> I have thought of a scheme where the first couple of years of IP are free and after that heavily progressively taxed over time ( e.g 1000 usd on third year and doubling each year after that. Once the ip holder does not pay the tax, IP becomes automatically public domain. It's not free at the beginning, and the fees are less than you suggest, but that's mostly what we do have: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maintenance_fee_(patent) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maintenance_fee_(patent)
- cwojo 8y agoI think this thread drastically underestimates the impact of removing incentive to protect their intellectual property. People will simply file their IP in the EU, China, and elsewhere internationally, ultimately deterring people from operating in the US market entirely.
- hulton 8y agoWhy do so many "solutions" always involve someone suggesting to tax and to get government coercion involved?