5 ms·

Not sure what to make of this. Patents should be much more expensive. They are government granted monopolies. Most patents are also not really original too, s

Not sure what to make of this. Patents should be much more expensive. They are government granted monopolies. Most patents are also not really original too, so I'd expect the world would be better off with 1/10th the number of patents. They probably should ongoing gradually escalating fees (for example maybe getting a patent for the first 5 years can be $100k, next 5 years $1M, next 5 years $10M, last 5 years $100M). But the fees for resolving disputes should come down (mostly lawyers fees, not court fees). Probably the best way is to eliminate the government granted Monopoly on attorneys (and related restrictions on law).

emn13 5y ago
All of these suggestions are a right step. The fundamental issue is that the current system is designed to issue when in doubt; without considering the cost to society from inhibiting progress by pointlessly throwing everything through the legal grinder with extra sand (in the form of a patent minefield). Ideally we'd start looking for an entirely different way to encourage innovation, and just cease issuing patents entirely. For example, patent-like systems with a more restrictive scope (not exlusive access to pretty much "any idea", but exclusive access to e.g. "medical approval"), so we don't accidentally hit every future sector with this junk. And perhaps we'd look for some system that's more self-regulating; i.e. where abuse exists rather in the form of ripping of the taxpayer, and less in the form of court cases. The justice system is so terribly inefficient and everything it touches, yet is just keeps on growing until everything is some kind of zero-sum game.