3 ms·

But then how will private rnd work? Why would i spend 5 years researching something when you can just copy it the next day?

advael 5y ago
How it already works: Arrange to get paid to do it by someone, or find a way to monetize it. The uniqueness of an idea is not what you're actually selling even in the current context, and the idea that you can go do some R&D as an individual with no funding and then stop a massive corporation from "stealing" that idea and productizing it with IP is a fantasy at best.
photochemsyn 5y ago
Most basic scientific research is done at public universities financed by federal grants from the NIH, NSF, etc. U.S. Bayh-Dole law allows universities to exclusively license this taxpayer-financed research (it's a complete ripoff of the public). For example, in the pharmaceutical world, basic drug discoveries made at universities are transferred to large corporations who typically finance further clinical drug trials, before getting approval and marketing the drug. Note also, this creates pressure to push the new patented expensive drugs, even if much cheaper out-of-patent drugs work just as well. Also, a lot of industrial R&D is about improving in-house processes. This kind of research may or may not produce 'intellectual property' but it tends to reduce costs and improve efficiency. Ideas are cheap, don't let the monopolists corral them all and prevent independent technologies from flourishing.
- whatever1 5y ago
  The whole pharma industry relies on IP and patent law. No generic drug company is putting money for RnD, they just try to minimize production costs. It’s the companies who rely on the protections of the law for exclusivity that put the money for rnd and take the risk. Pharmaceutical production costs are close to zero. It’s the funding of a research pipeline that mostly fails that concentrates all of the costs. If Pfizer spent 10 years on research and clinical trials of a new drug, and I can the next day of the FDA approval produce a generic derivative of their drug, I will drive them out of business. My costs are essentially 0. And no, not all innovation has been produced by universities.
  - photochemsyn 5y ago
    The vast majority of basic research that leads to patented drug development is done n the public dime, so it should belong to the public.
    - whatever1 5y ago
      That is trivialization of the RnD required even after you have prediscovered a potent molecule. After that you need additional 6-10 years of development work & clinical trials (which btw have very high probability of failure) for which neither universities nor generic drug companies want to pay.
syshum 5y ago
I think you need to prove your claim that rnd would not work with out strong IP law. or that innovation would stop because of it In reality we have TONS of examples of competition and rnd coming AFTER something loses IP protection Everything from Movies to 3D printers can be cited as examples of this, Countless movies are based on Public Domain characters, books, and other works that have entered the public domain, and there is a strong case to be made that the reason studios keep remaking the same movies is because TONS of creative works are locked up in IP hell, there is a HUGE public domain hole due to increasing copy right lengths For patents, look no further than 3d printers. The tech was there for 20+ years, locked away in various patents. The second those patents expired the industry exploded with innovation and plenty of companies investing all kinds of capital in 3d printers...

advael 5y ago

How it already works: Arrange to get paid to do it by someone, or find a way to monetize it. The uniqueness of an idea is not what you're actually selling even in the current context, and the idea that you can go do some R&D as an individual with no funding and then stop a massive corporation from "stealing" that idea and productizing it with IP is a fantasy at best.

photochemsyn 5y ago

Most basic scientific research is done at public universities financed by federal grants from the NIH, NSF, etc. U.S. Bayh-Dole law allows universities to exclusively license this taxpayer-financed research (it's a complete ripoff of the public). For example, in the pharmaceutical world, basic drug discoveries made at universities are transferred to large corporations who typically finance further clinical drug trials, before getting approval and marketing the drug. Note also, this creates pressure to push the new patented expensive drugs, even if much cheaper out-of-patent drugs work just as well. Also, a lot of industrial R&D is about improving in-house processes. This kind of research may or may not produce 'intellectual property' but it tends to reduce costs and improve efficiency. Ideas are cheap, don't let the monopolists corral them all and prevent independent technologies from flourishing.

whatever1 5y ago
The whole pharma industry relies on IP and patent law. No generic drug company is putting money for RnD, they just try to minimize production costs. It’s the companies who rely on the protections of the law for exclusivity that put the money for rnd and take the risk. Pharmaceutical production costs are close to zero. It’s the funding of a research pipeline that mostly fails that concentrates all of the costs. If Pfizer spent 10 years on research and clinical trials of a new drug, and I can the next day of the FDA approval produce a generic derivative of their drug, I will drive them out of business. My costs are essentially 0. And no, not all innovation has been produced by universities.
- photochemsyn 5y ago
  The vast majority of basic research that leads to patented drug development is done n the public dime, so it should belong to the public.
  - whatever1 5y ago
    That is trivialization of the RnD required even after you have prediscovered a potent molecule. After that you need additional 6-10 years of development work & clinical trials (which btw have very high probability of failure) for which neither universities nor generic drug companies want to pay.

syshum 5y ago

I think you need to prove your claim that rnd would not work with out strong IP law. or that innovation would stop because of it In reality we have TONS of examples of competition and rnd coming AFTER something loses IP protection Everything from Movies to 3D printers can be cited as examples of this, Countless movies are based on Public Domain characters, books, and other works that have entered the public domain, and there is a strong case to be made that the reason studios keep remaking the same movies is because TONS of creative works are locked up in IP hell, there is a HUGE public domain hole due to increasing copy right lengths For patents, look no further than 3d printers. The tech was there for 20+ years, locked away in various patents. The second those patents expired the industry exploded with innovation and plenty of companies investing all kinds of capital in 3d printers...