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Your question assumes that "the more inventions, the better for sociaty". While this may have been true for the last five hundred years, maybe it's time to reco

Your question assumes that "the more inventions, the better for sociaty". While this may have been true for the last five hundred years, maybe it's time to reconsider the assumption? This may sound foolish but please consider: What is more important? To create pills that enable old men to have sex or to solve today's energy problems? The later is not just about new technologies but to overcome the old established structures. Or consider medical treatment: Do we really new technology to heal very uncommon ills for a rich upper class when a large part of the sociaty cannot afford to have well-known basic medical treatment? The later is a social problem, not a technical one. Another assumption of your question is that patents are the only way to secure a large investement and that there are no alternative barriers to entry for others. However, that is clearly wrong. Do you have the money to manufacture automobiles, for instance? Even if you're capable to invent a new kind of car, do you have the money to advertise it properly? The third assumption of your question is that we may need a completely different system. However, patents seems to work somewhat fine for the material world. It just doesn't work for software. So, maybe we should not look for an alternative but for a different, a better kind of patent system? I'm not saying I have an answer. I just think one should be careful about either/or questions.

gravitycop 18y ago
Do you have the money to manufacture automobiles, for instance? Capital for new risky ventures, including automobile manufacturing ventures, is available from this source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venture_Capital http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venture_Capital Venture capitalists tend to be more willing to provide capital if one's venture has patents.
jwilliams 18y ago
To create pills that enable old men to have sex or to solve today's energy problems? This is more of a moral judgement than one around the efficacy of patents. Are you arguing that patents shouldn't be available at all, or they should only be granted to those that are a suitable fit for society? This sounds dangerous as I can't really think of anyone suitable to make such a judgement. Even in the later case, you still need an enconomic basis for the patent - or more correctly, the R&D required to gain the patent. Even if you're capable to invent a new kind of car, do you have the money to advertise it properly? I don't need to invent a new kind of car - if I came up with a valve arrangement that increased efficiency by x% that would be patentable, and I would profit from it. If this invention, say, could be retrofitted to existing vehicles and reduce emissions - then governments might mandate it's use - and I'd profit from that. I don't think a body such as the government should be guiding research. It's a slippery slope to bureaucracy. What you can do is put in place the right framework - e.g. all cars must comply with an emission standard by X - then you create the economic basis for the right inventions to follow.

gravitycop 18y ago

Do you have the money to manufacture automobiles, for instance? Capital for new risky ventures, including automobile manufacturing ventures, is available from this source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venture_Capital http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venture_Capital Venture capitalists tend to be more willing to provide capital if one's venture has patents.

jwilliams 18y ago

To create pills that enable old men to have sex or to solve today's energy problems? This is more of a moral judgement than one around the efficacy of patents. Are you arguing that patents shouldn't be available at all, or they should only be granted to those that are a suitable fit for society? This sounds dangerous as I can't really think of anyone suitable to make such a judgement. Even in the later case, you still need an enconomic basis for the patent - or more correctly, the R&D required to gain the patent. Even if you're capable to invent a new kind of car, do you have the money to advertise it properly? I don't need to invent a new kind of car - if I came up with a valve arrangement that increased efficiency by x% that would be patentable, and I would profit from it. If this invention, say, could be retrofitted to existing vehicles and reduce emissions - then governments might mandate it's use - and I'd profit from that. I don't think a body such as the government should be guiding research. It's a slippery slope to bureaucracy. What you can do is put in place the right framework - e.g. all cars must comply with an emission standard by X - then you create the economic basis for the right inventions to follow.