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Why is this "rent seeking"? eInk came up with an idea, reduced it to practice, patented that and now have a 20 year monopoly. What they choose to do with it is
by rswail 6y ago
Why is this "rent seeking"? eInk came up with an idea, reduced it to practice, patented that and now have a 20 year monopoly.
What they choose to do with it is up to them. It's a property right that they own. It's specifically mandated as a monopoly power that they have been granted.
After 20 years, anyone can make an eInk display.
You can argue that 20 years is too long, or that the patent is invalid, or that they aren't exploiting their idea in the most community oriented way, but calling this "rent seeking" and "counter to the goals of markets" is flat out wrong.
The "free market" is entirely about each individual making their own behavioral decisions, within the regulations of the market, to promote their own benefit.
You might not like the way the idea of patents has been reduced to practice, but that doesn't make the idea of patents a bad one.