> Patents are monopolies. They monopolize all of the knowledge,
informaton
> and technology in the same way that the feudal estates monopolized all
of
> the factors of production. Patents recreate the feudal system.
The fundamental difference is that patents have limited lifetime, and have
generally (perhaps even universally?) been designed as a trade-off. For
example, as one legal document puts it, the goal is "[t]o promote the
Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to
Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and
Discoveries."
You might find this link useful, although it's US-centric:
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/article01/39.html#1
Followups to /dev/null, as we used to say.
/r$
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