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-----Original Message-----<br>
From: Tom Tobin <korpios@korpios.com><br>
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<pre style="font-size: 9pt;"><tt>>First off, the inventor should consider themselves lucky that they are<br>
<br>
>receiving a patent *at all*. Second, yes, the useful *chronological*<br>
<br>
>lifetime of an invention is shortened — thus making it all the more<br>
<br>
>important to shorten the patent time. This is not punishment; if the<br>
<br>
>inventor wants to keep making money off of patents, well, guess what —<br>
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>they need to *keep inventing*.<br>
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Exactly, I can see no logical reason for inventors to get a free lunch after the recouping of the invention cost.<br>
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For me the biggest pay off is knowing I have beaten the problem and made the world a slightly better place (hopefully).<br>
<br>
My plumber doesn't ask me for a check every time I turn on the water, just because he worked hard at the outset.<br>
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>> I see it quite differently - IP, including copyright and patents,<br>
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>> should be forever. No limits whatsoever. If you invented the wheel,<br>
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>> your 55th generation descendant should still get the royalties....<br>
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>This is one of the most awful ideas I've ever encountered. (I've<br>
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>encountered it before, but, still.) I'd rather have zero IP than<br>
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>forever-IP; progress would be *faster* without the chilling effect of<br>
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>having to constantly come up with ridiculous workarounds to avoid<br>
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>running afoul of a patent.<br>
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Indeed this is a truly awful idea. It would lead to stagnation in innovation and create a class divide beyond comprehension.<br>
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Might I propose a 'united world invention registry'. Where every new patentable device can be registered for free by the original inventor. <br>
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Anyone could browse the director for a device which fits their need and the specs downloaded. Manufacturers could register themselves against a device<br>
<br>
and the registry updated with how many working examples of that device have been manufactured/sold etc.<br>
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If the cost of invention could somehow be factored against market usage and reimbursed accordingly to the inventor (or company paying for the development).<br>
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<br>
I can see the bones of it, where the development cost of new inventions are somehow shared globally. I would like to see the useful and most utilised inventions having <br>
<br>
development costs paid back quickly and in full (perhaps an additional incentive profit). Where as useless inventions (and poor manufacterers) probably won't ever get the money back.</font><tt><br>
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Perhaps some kind of feedback point system could be used which accounts for the quality of the invention in quantifiable ways?<br>
This could be linked to the OEM's which are registered against a device, giving consumer freedom.<br>
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Alex<br>
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</tt><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">PS apologies for the bad format. </font></pre>
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