Here's a slightly different take on Bolton & Watt http://mises.org/daily/3280 http://mises.org/daily/3280 I think the key takeaway is that the patent was retr

Here's a slightly different take on Bolton & Watt http://mises.org/daily/3280 http://mises.org/daily/3280 I think the key takeaway is that the patent was retroactively extended; so the idea was already created. If the extension was necessary for funding and development, then a case can be made for granting temporary monopolies for anything regardless of the inventor (the idea already exists, so we should find the best implementer) - I think most would be against this idea.