8 ms·

The entire point of a patent is to make it publicly available while funneling money to the patent holder (who is presumably the inventor). That's the entire po

The entire point of a patent is to make it publicly available while funneling money to the patent holder (who is presumably the inventor). That's the entire point. That's why the patent system exists. To say something is patented is the same as saying it's publicly available.

cafebeen 12y ago
The point of a patent is to exclude others from using intellectual property, not to make it "publicly available": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent#Effects https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent#Effects To quote the supreme court: "A patent is not the grant of a right to make or use or sell. It does not, directly or indirectly, imply any such right. It grants only the right to exclude others." The point is to provide some temporary protection for inventors in exchange for public usage once the patent has expired.
- saraid216 12y ago
  That's the point from the inventor's perspective, yes. If an inventor wanted it publicly available, she'd just publish it. That's generally how science happens. For an inventor, a patent is a way to guarantee ownership of proceeds. A government, however, doesn't actually care if the inventor gets paid. The government provides a patent office in order to make inventions public. In return, it provides what the inventor wants: a way to defend ownership. Notice that you cannot patent something without making it publicly available. It's not possible. If exclusion from intellectual property was the only goal, this would not be true. You should be able to register your invention with the government and reference it in court, only divulging its details when the facts of the case demand it.
  - cafebeen 12y ago
    Is something "publicly available" if you can be sued for using it? That's the case for patented material for the 20 years before it expires. There's a difference between the details of the invention being known and it being available for use. In the case of Google, it cost them $300M to license the PageRank algorithm because Stanford owns the patent (despite its inner workings being widely known).
    - saraid216 12y ago
      > Is something "publicly available" if you can be sued for using it? Yes. > There's a difference between the details of the invention being known and it being available for use. "You have to pay for it" doesn't equate to "it is not available". You can argue that it's an exorbitant price, but Google is paying for it.
      - cafebeen 12y ago
        To be clear, according to the supreme court, "It grants only the right to exclude others". So it's a misunderstanding to say "The entire point of a patent is to make it publicly available while funneling money to the patent holder". Sure, patents are often used to release details about an invention while making money off it, but that's just one use case. For example, it can just as well be used as an obstacle to slow down competitors.
        saraid216 12y ago
        "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;"
        cafebeen 12y ago
        I don't see anything about an invention being "publicly available while funneling money to the patent holder". The "exclusive right" part means the invention is legally the property of the inventor. Others can improve on it, but there is no guarantee the public can use the actual invention until the patent expires.
        saraid216 12y ago
        > until the patent expires. It's almost like it's baked into the system.
        12y ago

cafebeen 12y ago

The point of a patent is to exclude others from using intellectual property, not to make it "publicly available": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent#Effects https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent#Effects To quote the supreme court: "A patent is not the grant of a right to make or use or sell. It does not, directly or indirectly, imply any such right. It grants only the right to exclude others." The point is to provide some temporary protection for inventors in exchange for public usage once the patent has expired.

saraid216 12y ago
That's the point from the inventor's perspective, yes. If an inventor wanted it publicly available, she'd just publish it. That's generally how science happens. For an inventor, a patent is a way to guarantee ownership of proceeds. A government, however, doesn't actually care if the inventor gets paid. The government provides a patent office in order to make inventions public. In return, it provides what the inventor wants: a way to defend ownership. Notice that you cannot patent something without making it publicly available. It's not possible. If exclusion from intellectual property was the only goal, this would not be true. You should be able to register your invention with the government and reference it in court, only divulging its details when the facts of the case demand it.
- cafebeen 12y ago
  Is something "publicly available" if you can be sued for using it? That's the case for patented material for the 20 years before it expires. There's a difference between the details of the invention being known and it being available for use. In the case of Google, it cost them $300M to license the PageRank algorithm because Stanford owns the patent (despite its inner workings being widely known).
  - saraid216 12y ago
    > Is something "publicly available" if you can be sued for using it? Yes. > There's a difference between the details of the invention being known and it being available for use. "You have to pay for it" doesn't equate to "it is not available". You can argue that it's an exorbitant price, but Google is paying for it.
    - cafebeen 12y ago
      To be clear, according to the supreme court, "It grants only the right to exclude others". So it's a misunderstanding to say "The entire point of a patent is to make it publicly available while funneling money to the patent holder". Sure, patents are often used to release details about an invention while making money off it, but that's just one use case. For example, it can just as well be used as an obstacle to slow down competitors.
      - saraid216 12y ago
        "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;"
        cafebeen 12y ago
        I don't see anything about an invention being "publicly available while funneling money to the patent holder". The "exclusive right" part means the invention is legally the property of the inventor. Others can improve on it, but there is no guarantee the public can use the actual invention until the patent expires.
        saraid216 12y ago
        > until the patent expires. It's almost like it's baked into the system.
        12y ago