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> I partially agree - but without the patent system where does the incentive for companies to invest millions (sometimes billions) into research and development
by yellowapple 4y ago
> I partially agree - but without the patent system where does the incentive for companies to invest millions (sometimes billions) into research and development come from? Altruism?
This presupposes that the patented invention is trivial to reproduce by mere knowledge of its existence - in which case, is that really the best use of a patent system?
Most worthwhile inventions can't be easily duplicated like that; the knowledge of how to manufacture it, continue iterating/improving on it, etc. is almost certainly concentrated in and around the inventor - giving the inventor a considerable first-mover's advantage. A better system, in that case, would be to ensure the inventor can capitalize on that advantage - in particular, that even individual inventors have access to capital such that they can start producing their inventions.
(A better system than that would be for everyone to have a safety net sufficiently strong such that they can collaborate on inventions solely motivated by intellectual curiosity rather than needing to worry about monetary gain, but I digress...)
- manuelabeledo 4y ago> This presupposes that the patented invention is trivial to reproduce by mere knowledge of its existence - in which case, is that really the best use of a patent system? This seems to be the central issue with many software patents, where the "invention" is either generic, obvious, or already widespread. Take the whole set of patents covering touch screen interactions, for instance. Apple sued HTC for several patent infringements and lost, because the judge deemed things like scrolling through pictures "too obvious". The case covered four patents, as far as I remember. Apple also sued Samsung for the "slide to unlock" patent, and won, not because Samsung copied Apple, but because Apple held the patent, and it was considered valid. Thus, there is no room for any sort of simultaneous inventions here. Samsung might have come up with the idea by themselves. Apple might have patented a concept that was used by others first. And the reason why a single company was awarded exclusive ownership over it, was timing and money, nothing else.
- solarmist 4y agoThe upside is the patent system hasn’t been fucked up like the copyright system, so after 15 years all the really obvious patents start expiring.
- yellowapple 4y agoYeah, if the copyright system was brought back to the same state as the patent system, then that'd be a strict improvement - though that's less due to the current patent system being decent and more due to the copyright system being obnoxiously bad.