What are your thoughts about the recent attack on patent laws, and would you be able to refer me to material which supports intellectual property right?
First, I have yet to hear a compelling argument for dropping patents that gets the facts right. That doesn't mean that there is not argument for dropping patents, just that I have not heard one yet based on accurate facts. Many such arguments are based on anecdotal evidence that patents didn't help a particular party as much as the party thought they should -- not really compelling without more.
Second, take a quick look around the world and name a country in which you'd be willing to take up residence that has no effective patent protections. And, to make the argument that the US would benefit from dropping patents, the country can't be some tiny place like Tonga or Palau.
Third, consider our own history. I believe the first "modern" patent law anywhere in the world was right here in the US. And, we have a unique culture of innovation here that you don't see anywhere else in the world.
To illustrate, a good friend of mine is the dean of education at WWU and explained to me how unique we are in this respect. He studied academic writing throughout the world.
Pretty much every where else in the world, a good academic paper just regurgitates everything the author knows about a topic -- just a very thorough review. In China, I understand that you get bonus points for colloquial sayings (like "a stitch in time saves nine"); there are thousands in China and the more you toss in, the more you understand the culture -- which is valued. In the US, the author is to make a contribution to the topic -- the author's own synthesis, to go beyond what is already known. That is pretty much unique in the world.
As an example, I used to work for the research facility of a major oil company. The researchers were all top-quality geophysicists. One of the research assistants there had a PhD from Russia and wanted to apply for a researcher role. In his presentation, he was just explaining the whole of geophysics. He was stopped several times to skip the background and get to his contribution. He kept pleading to be allowed to finish. There was no new contribution -- it was all review. In Russia, that might have demonstrated a mastery of the topic. Here, there was no evidence he would contribute any innovation to geophysics.
Patents aren't really designed to help any one type of person or company. They're an incentive for innovation and to publicly share innovation, to foster a culture in which innovation is valued. From what I see, we are still the leader in innovation throughout the world. I don't see us maintaining that advantage without patents.
Regards.
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Topic: The case for patent law (Read 407 times)
