I wish more people would remember that a patent is supposed to be compensation for publishing, because that's supposed to be a win for society over having an invention live and die as a trade secret. But there is no market force ensuring the price of licensing a patent is less than the cost of having each competitor in the industry independently re-create the invention. Too often it's just rent-seeking on the straightforward solution any skilled practitioner would have reached, once they got around to considering the problem.
Yeah, the patent itself is quid pro quo, not just a windfall for the patentee. That's why it (theoretically) has to describe the best mode for practicing the invention, in enough detail that anyone skilled in the art can understand and use it. It's also why prior art only counts if it was published somewhere.
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I wish more people would remember that a patent is supposed to be compensation for publishing, because that's supposed to be a win for society over having an invention live and die as a trade secret. But there is no market force ensuring the price of licensing a patent is less than the cost of having each competitor in the industry independently re-create the invention. Too often it's just rent-seeking on the straightforward solution any skilled practitioner would have reached, once they got around to considering the problem.
How is it compensation for publishing? Publishing what? you mean the actual patent?
Yeah, the patent itself is quid pro quo, not just a windfall for the patentee. That's why it (theoretically) has to describe the best mode for practicing the invention, in enough detail that anyone skilled in the art can understand and use it. It's also why prior art only counts if it was published somewhere.