[toss1]

I used to think that patents were essential, but the reality is that they don't provide much protection to ordinary inventors and are mostly used in rent-seeking and extractive behaviors by major entities.

The reality is that a patent or copyright is not a protection, but just a ticket to a lawsuit. That lawsuit will take years and 6-figure dollars to prosecute to a usually unsatisfactory result. When it costs well into 5-figure dollars merely to get a patent, it's not worth it for a small inventor and is just the cost of business for a patent troll.

Other than marketing value of "we have 5 patents on the tech in this product!", it's generally better to go trade secret, IMO...

Copyright, is better in that it doesn't cost much to assert one, but going beyond a decade or two after the life of the author is again only something that favors some large corporate entities.

Remember, the entire purpose of both of these is to benefit society and the country as a whole - to promote innovation. Promoting large corporations rent-seeking and extractive profits fails to do that.

[bruce511]

>> Remember, the entire purpose of both of these is to benefit society and the country as a whole - to promote innovation

This is inaccurate. Patents are designed to promote innovation.

Copyrights are designed to promote creativity, not innovation. My novel is not innovative, it is creative. Copyrights allow me to monetize my creations if I choose to do so.

Patents are designed for people to monetize invention.

Conflating the two is both common, and unhelpful, as they both need different reforms in different aspects.

[toss1]

Of course they are distinct and need somewhat different reforms.

However, they have much more in common

They are both legal structures creating and enforcing the concept of "intellectual property" and supporting monetization of that property for the creators.

I read the phrase "promote creativity" as indistinguishable from "promote innovation in the non-STEM (artistic, literary, etc.) fields" — sure, in general, "innovative" connotations differing from "creative", but in this discussion, it is a distinction without a difference.

Maybe I'm missing something, and I agree that they both need reforms in different aspects, but that is primarily because they have different sets of laws, not because of some distinction between the two words you've highlighted.

[bruce511]

"Intellectual Property" as a term covers more than monetization though. For example it covers Trade Marks which has more to do with ownership (ie a "brand") than with direct monetization. I don't sell my trademark.

The distinction is important because one can be pro, or against, monetization - for or against ownership, pro or against copyright and so on. Incidentally copyright isn't as much about monetization (almost no creative works make any money) - it's more about control over the creation.

>> I read the phrase "promote creativity" as indistinguishable from "promote innovation in the non-STEM (artistic, literary, etc.) fields"

I understand where you are coming from, but I would argue that there's a big difference between innovation and creativity, and conflating the two does not necessarily lead to progress in reforming either.

[toss1]

>>"Intellectual Property" as a term covers more than monetization though. For example it covers Trade Marks which has more to do with ownership (ie a "brand") than with direct monetization. I don't sell my trademark.

Interesting example, but it is still all about monetization, even if slightly indirect. E.g., every franchise operation licenses it's trademark to it's operators - You and I can setup a hamburger restaurant, but we'd better not call it McDonald's or Wendy's without signing up to their franchise agreement and paying the fees.

I've worked in both software and now in mechanical engineering fields, and I'm also having a hard time seeing both how innovation is not merely creativity applied to one field and the arts are creativity applied to another. Whether I'm creating a new widget, or way to make the widget, or you are creating a new painting, song, or written work, we're both applying our training, knowledge, experience, and creativity to create something new.

Even more so, I don't see how making this distinction inhibits making reforms.

In both cases, we need to reform the system so that it is not merely a tool for corporations to implement restrictive rent-seeking regimes to extract profit and inhibit progress. Any further detail you can provide?