On Jul 16, 2009, at 1:36 PM, Matthew Taylor wrote:
By your logic if I invent a widget or widgets and process by which
they are used that grants a new or vastly improved capability and
there by gain a monopoly I am abusing a commons - a commons that
did not exist until I invented it.
Not "by my logic." What I stated is the way it is viewed by economists.
A patent is exactly a limited grant of monopoly rights. It is a deal
made between society and inventors so that the society may benefit
from the work of inventors. Each contributes something of value so
that a deal may be struck. In the end the patent expires and the
inventor must return their exclusive part of the market to the Commons.
For those that claim that the market is not a thing, your example is
a great counter-example. If the market were not a thing then how
could it be given away in a patent-grant transaction?
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