> As the constitution's framers realized, copyright and patents are critical to fostering innovation and culture. Well.... I don't think anyone around that tim

> As the constitution's framers realized, copyright and patents are critical to fostering innovation and culture. Well.... I don't think anyone around that time was seriously thinking about patent law and innovation in that capacity. "Well we have a new country, and handing out patents is just one of those things you're expected to do." Even the Soviet Union had a patent system, and they're the last group you'd expect to sign up for the idea of patents. And yet here you go: http://patentdb.su/ http://patentdb.su/ The modern patent system goes back to the 1600s when some boring king made some annoying promises that he had to compromise on: By the 16th century, the English Crown would habitually grant letters patent for monopolies to favoured persons (or people who were prepared to pay for them).[13] This power was used to raise money for the Crown, and was widely abused, as the Crown granted patents in respect of all sorts of common goods (salt, for example). Consequently, the Court began to limit the circumstances in which they could be granted. After public outcry, James I of England was forced to revoke all existing monopolies and declare that they were only to be used for "projects of new invention". This was incorporated into the Statute of Monopolies in which Parliament restricted the Crown's power explicitly so that the King could only issue letters patent to the inventors or introducers of original inventions for a fixed number of years. It also voided all existing monopolies and dispensations with [some] exception[s].... above quote's background: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_patent_law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_patent_law fun paper: http://diyhpl.us/~bryan/papers2/Generally%20inconvenient:%20the%201624%20Statute%20of%20Monopolies%20as%20political%20compromise.pdf http://diyhpl.us/~bryan/papers2/Generally%20inconvenient:%20... This paper is mostly about how a law came about regarding "projects of new invention" as a political compromise, rather than any particular thought or study about the problem of incentives and innovation.