This is sure to ruffle some feathers lol. Patents, intellectual property, and dead weight costs. The general consensus regarding patents, is that they create an incentive for inventors to create new technologies and find new applications. While it is said that these help further economic growth, nothing could be further than the truth. There are several valid arguments that show in fact that patents actually create a form of corporate tyranny sanctioned by the government, that would not otherwise exist. The average patent lasts about ten years, and the first argument points out that once patented, the incentive for further development is eliminated. Where technologies and consumers would actually benefit from more firms doing further research and development, the competitive market is replaced with a purchased monopoly. The result is higher brand costs, wasted capital, and a more stagnant economy. Another point is that this monopoly is easily maintained by re-patenting the technology with slightly updated features, usually by changing a few unessential factors. It is worth noting that this can actually degrade many products. Of these large institutions capable of buying technology, it is easily within their means to hire out leading minds to bring them under the corporate umbrella.These companies very often own even the tech for the tools necessary to develop and test its intellectual property. Whether it is the tech, the tool, or the labs required to do research, inventors and scientists now need the corporations in order to proceed with any work. From the perspective of a rising pupil of science, it would be in my interests to work for the largest firm due to its largest amount of resources. From then on, under employment contracts any discoveries I make already belong to my employer. The end result is that we have a couple large firms that are responsible for much of the technology in this country, but the real individuals responsible go under paid and under appreciated because they have few options. I would make the argument that if intellectual property did not exist, we would see faster economic growth, more competitive markets, lower prices, higher wages, and better products.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 05:52:52 +0000
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