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This is backward, the point of a patent is that it guarantees the invention will become public knowledge. The exclusivity period is compensation for that. Ther
by snowwrestler 8y ago
This is backward, the point of a patent is that it guarantees the invention will become public knowledge. The exclusivity period is compensation for that.
There is no law forcing a person or company to file for a patent. They are free to keep their trade secrets a secret forever, if they want.
- TeMPOraL 8y agoThis may be backwards, but it's how regular people see it, from what I've observed. They dream of patenting something and then licensing/selling it to companies. It's easier than making use of the invention by themselves. As for guaranteeing the invention will be public knowledge, these days it's just bait-and-switch.
- snowwrestler 8y agoUsing an invention to create a product is a way (maybe the most popular way) of making the invention public knowledge. The dream of licensing is not a perversion of the patent system, it's part of the point: to get inventions out of people's heads and secret workshops, and into forms that benefit the public at large.