:Userland.com: Patents are the 18th century equivalent of open source
Userland.com: Patents are the 18th century equivalent of open source Oct 24, 1999, 16 :12 UTC (6 Talkback[s]) (4771 reads) (Other stories by Ken Meltsner)
"Patents are the 18th century equivalent of open source: in exchange for
a limited time protection of the process, an inventor discloses all the
details of his or her invention. The goal was to make sure that new
industrial methods wouldn't be shrouded by secrecy and possibly lost, and
to assure that others could build upon the work performed earlier."
"... If you have a problem with a patent, you can challenge it, in
theory. Now, in practice, that tends to cost too much for any individual or
small company, but it does mean that bad decisions by the US PTO can be
reversed."
"There are a number of worthwhile fixes to the patent system. The
underlying idea, IMHO, is sound..."
