Re: [Patents] Open ingeneering

[Gregory Aharonian <srctran@world.std.com>]

>Is patenting really a solution to boost innovation in a networked world?

There is another aspect to innovation affected by patents, beyond boosting
innovation.  That is, what peoples and what countries are going to be the
biggest financial beneficiaries?  If I invent something, I want to be the
one who builds the company around the new invention, create jobs for my
community, etc.  Without a patent, my invention (if of any interest to
the marketplace) is going to be expolited either by a large multinational
who might write me a nice thankyou letter, or if the invention is more
product oriented, mass manufactured in China and sold in big chain stores
around the world.

Thos people who wish to invent and give their invention freely to the world
for others to benefit economically, my compliments to their altruism.
Those people who want to control the exploitation of their new invention
should be just as free to use the patent system to do so.

If you look at the history of technology in all areas, including software
technology, innovation has benefitted both from altruistic people and from
greedy people wanting to make use of patents.  It has worked fine for
over 150 years - I mean if anything peokple have too many technological
inventions they have to deal with (have of which is in their closets).

The only thing left is to improve the quality of the patent system, to
eliminate those patents that are either not novel or show no inventive
step.

Greg Aharonian