Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Protecting the inventor is Better Done by Giving Him Royalties

   You would amend our Constitution, you say? I'll tell you where I think there is a pressing need for a change in that venerable document. It is a wonderful document, but this part is direly in need of change.
   "The Congress shall have Power . . . To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Investors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries."
   That, from Article I, Section 8, defines how our patent system operates. The system has proven to protect not so much the inventor, as the rich. You need money to develop your invention, and often investors buy out the inventor.
   Or reap the benefits while employing them.
   We would do much better if we awarded the inventor royalties. Let whoever might, copy the product . . . but only if they pay the inventor royalties. This way, the inventor is freed from having to come up with money to develop the product. He needs to do no more than come up with an idea, and patent it, and, if it is a good product, the money starts rolling his way.
   He is rewarded for having the idea, not for having the money to develop the idea. One system, the one I'm proposing, rewards the inventor, regardless. The other system, the one we have, rewards the person who has the financial means for developing the product. That would be the rich, the investors. I don't see a big need for rewarding them.

No comments:

Post a Comment