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Anonymous12/03/25, 16:18No.16862453
/sci/ientists
A question: The Patent System
Net negative or net positive?
Consider all facets.
Does this antiquated system slow us down as a civilization or not?
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Anon12/03/25, 16:42No.16862472
I suppose if I wait around for the next renaissance, I'll get my answer, if it comes out of China.
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Anon12/03/25, 17:14No.16862490
The concept of patents provides an incentive for innovation even if one does not have the necessary capital to market the product. It also creates an alternative to a much more clandestine system where every company has a billion trade secrets which they have every incentive to gatekeep from the public.
It's not simply a "nuh uh! I did it first!" It's a public disclosure of your idea and all necessary components to make it work. Anyone may replicate the idea themselves if they have the capacity to do so. The patent only prevents you from profiting from the idea without paying the necessary royalties.If patents weren't a thing, every manufacturing process and non-obvious design choice would be a closely guarded industry secret, which is much worse for innovation than a paywall that only applies if you intend to make money from it.
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Anon12/03/25, 17:43No.16862504
It is a net positive. Without it, you cannot have any hope of recouping the multi year effort from realising an invention to turning it into a product on the shelves. Instead, the big established companies would take control and crush small competitors, since the companies that have more to earn on stagnation than innovation. Think of the Kodak fall but across all fields.For pharmaceuticals, development can take decades.t.European patent attorney, former scientist