<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
<meta content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type">
<title></title>
</head>
<body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
First of all, you have to remember that applying for a patent is
optional. You are free to develop and market your ideas without getting
one. I have done so on several occasions.<br>
Of course there is a risk that someone else with more money and a
better way to market your idea will see it, replicate it, refine it,
and you won't make the money you thought you would, but that is the
purpose of the patent which you aren't too fond of, so whatever you do,
don't let the patent process discourage you from putting your ideas out
there. Just do it!<br>
<br>
I think patents still have a place but the process needs some serious
revision. The idea that someone can patent an idea and then sit on it
to prevent the competition from doing it is very bad indeed. There
should be very short limitations on such things that state that a
patent is only good for maybe 1 year unless the product is fully
developed and implemented in that time. <br>
<br>
The place for patents is very understandable when you consider the cost
of bringing some products to market. Pharmaceuticals are an excellent
example. Why pour hundreds of millions of dollars into research and
development and the FDA approval process if someone can come behind you
and sell the same exact thing without having to include those costs in
their equation? If I had that kind of money to invest, I would find
something else to put my money into besides new products. Maybe I would
just wait for someone else to come up with new stuff.<br>
<br>
Once you go down this road, you realize that the patent process
actually encourages new development and not the reverse. Having
everyone be like China is not the answer. As you have already noted,
nothing "new" comes out of China. <br>
<br>
Rather than throw patents out the door, what should be done is to
re-write patent laws to where they make more sense. Get rid of the
ability to sit on a patent without producing a product, and then flat
out refuse to purchase products from countries that choose to ignore
patents.<br>
<br>
A note of caution. The US has become very reliant upon cheap goods from
China. Doing such a thing would introduce massive levels of inflation.
The only reason inflation has been in check for the last 20 years is
the increasing outsourcing of manufacturing to China. Once that stops,
the results may be very bad. Thus is the reason for the current
situation and the likelihood that it will remain despite the obvious
long-term result.<br>
<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:ABlainey@aol.com">ABlainey@aol.com</a> wrote:
<blockquote cite="mid:c14.2ff4b332.34efb70d@aol.com" type="cite"><font
face="arial,helvetica"><font ptsize="10" size="2">I have been thinking
recently about patents and whether they are fundamentally wrong. As an
inventor I have no problem with people getting credit where credit is
due. , likewise no problem with monetary gain from one's endeavours
however I get a biting feeling that patents are purely selfish and
uncivilised.<br>
My reasoning is that many super rich people and companies got that way
from patent license fees. In many cases the 'invention' was done by
some hard working minion of the company who probably didn't get much
more than their basic salary for the accomplishment. <br>
I know that as an inventor, I have sat on quite a few inventions,
simply because I didn't have the cash for patents. In several cases
this has led to someone else beating me to the market. Believe it or
not, my first invention was radar for cars that stopped you bumping
into things when you were parking. Sound familiar? So is my hard work
worth less than theirs? How many thousands of useful products are
currently gathering dust or being kept secret?<br>
<br>
It has made me wonder what would happen if the patent system were
scrapped.<br>
As I see it, the immediate effect would be a whole bunch of very cheap
pharmaceuticals hitting the market. I also think this is the only way
to create a truly competitive market place, where only the best quality
products (or versions of) for a reasonable price would survive. <br>
I can imagine it somewhat levelling the income levels of many people as
there would be many more companies in the world, with much flatter
structures. Not only that, but you would also be more likely to get
paid according to how much/how well you work, rather than how well you
can exploit others.<br>
I think this is probably a very timely subject with the possibility of
desktop production machines getting closer and closer. Imagine a world
where you can create anything you want in a desktop nano machine, but
have to swipe your credit card to pay some corporation patent licence
fees, just because they had the resources to beat everyone to the
patent office.<br>
New inventions are just progressions of existing technology, so given
the wheel it was inevitable that someone would build a cart. So why are
we paying the cart builders?<br>
It would be nice to live in a world where invention was done for its
own worth rather than the dreams of piles of cash. Wouldn't that kind
of world be better at inventing more useful and effective things rather
than the same old crap in a different package?<br>
<br>
<br>
Alex</font> </font>
<pre wrap=""><font face="arial,helvetica">
</font><hr size="4" width="90%"><font face="arial,helvetica">
_______________________________________________
extropy-chat mailing list
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org">extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat">http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat</a>
</font></pre>
</blockquote>
</body>
</html>