Patents?

[aworldnervelink]

I'm looking for libertarian commentary for or against the idea of patents...

[eques]

I've not studied it, but from what I gather, a patent is a special government protection for the filer.  The holder of a patent basically gives "ownership" of a technology or process to the patent holder.

I guess this gets into the realm of intellectual property, and I don't have an informed enough opinion in this area.  I think that the individual who creates a book or musical composition should be rewarded for their efforts, but I'm not sure that a technology or process can be considered the same sort of thing.

[error]

Does it require someone to force someone else to do something or not to do something? Then it's a bad idea.

[Tom Sawyer]

Why would someone spend the effort to create something new if the big boys would just take it?

[eques]

Who would be the "big boys" if there were no such things as corporate legal fictions?

[Russell Kanning]

Who would be the "big boys" if there were no such things as corporate legal fictions?

Companies with many happy customers.

[Russell Kanning]

Does it require someone to force someone else to do something or not to do something? Then it's a bad idea.

I gots to agree with the error man.
If I agree with error ... does that mean I am in error?

[Russell Kanning]

Who would be the "big boys" if there were no such things as corporate legal fictions?

There will always be big boys who want to take your lunch money.

[Russell Kanning]

I'm looking for libertarian commentary for or against the idea of patents...

I bet you can find many very toughtful articles on the matter from mises and such. Is that what you wanted or did you want the opinions on this forum?

[SpeedPhreak]

I feel there should be protection for inventors (be it tech, art, medicine) per se.

I dont think the current system works though.  A great example is in my business of sublimation.  A person invented the ink & process but didn't patent it.  Another guy comes along & patents it & then sues all the competition because he holds the patent... now he is the only provider (there is 1 other one that is still in court... don't know how long that will last though).

Another failure is people who invent something... then sell the patent to a competitor & it is suppressed.

[error]

Does it require someone to force someone else to do something or not to do something? Then it's a bad idea.

I gots to agree with the error man.
If I agree with error ... does that mean I am in error?

The original idea behind a patent was to secure to an inventor the exclusive power to market his or her own invention for a limited time, which was 17 years, in exchange for the inventor publicizing the details of how the invention was made. The government enforces patent rights; if someone else markets the same patented invention, or something based on it, during that period, government thugs go after them.

Of course, as an inventor you need not patent your invention. If you have something truly novel, and don't publicize the details of how it was made, then it's going to take a while for your competitors to catch up anyway.

Then along came some crazy fool who attempted to patent a piece of software, which is a whole other discussion. Even if patents could be justifiable, software patents are beyond the pale.

[Russell Kanning]

Having the government decide who owns or invented something and then punishing others ... is not my idea of freedom.

[lordmetroid]

The patent and copyright government program has run amok... SURPRISE!!!
Today it does more harm than good.

[NC2NH]

The Libertarian Case Against Intellectual Property Rights
http://web.archive.org/web/20060425045949/libertariannation.org/a/f31l1.html

[eques]

Indeed, any argument that entails "but if copyright doesn't exist, there'll be no incentive to produce books, literature, art, etc." ignores that for most of human history, there was no such thing as "copyright."

Furthermore, if you claim to have invented something and your claim proves to be fraudulent (however that ends up happening), you can suffer a tremendous loss of trust and reputation.