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by merger
4085 days ago
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"Patents were originally created give monopolies as a reward for innovation." That's a common misconception. The original reasoning for patents was to provide a limited (in time) monopoly to inventors in exchange for sharing (and describing in detail) their invention with the whole of society. Interesting anecdote, afaik Gore & Associates, Inc.'s Goretex patent expired before it was universally used for outdoor clothing, thus any brand coukd release their own unlicensed goretex-like material. They have since stopped patenting many of their inventions afaik. |
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Some of the apparent ancient predecessors of patents may have been on this basis, and clearly that's the theory of the modern patent system in some parts of the world. But the origin of letters patent was really the whim of the monarch, and they may have been granted for sharing information, or just for sharing the proceeds of the monopoly with the crown.