NeedToUseYou -> RE: Ownership is not ownership, unless it is forever... (2/18/2006 12:05:08 AM)
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I'm not seeing how documents from other countries like poland are relevant. Here's the crux of the argument on patents. The government grants Patents. You don't automaticly get one or protection of the work. And if you don't get a patent, anyone can duplicate your work and you'd have little recourse. Trademarks, books, etc... are handled differently and protection is implied upon creation but still for a finite time, closer to ownership than patents. As far as patents go they are "granted" by the government for a set period of time. Notice they use the word granted, that implies they are giving you control of something with stipulations, basicly you have to tell everyone how you made your invention(as stated below), and you agree you only have rights over it for a predetermined amount of time. After that time anyone can reproduce it without breaking any laws, thus legally you don't own it after that time expires, it's not that the government isn't just not protecting it, they are saying it is alright for others to make it. So, essentially, the government grants you exclusive rights for a period of time after that anyone can build or directly duplicate the patented item legally. If you owned it why would they use the terms "grant" "rights" and stipulate a time line for exclusive use. It's because the term ownership is different from being granted rights for a finite time. I still don't believe that one truly owns Intellectual Property in a true sense, especially in the case of patents. Because there is no possiblity of holding it longer than the government tells you, among other stipulations attached to receiving the right of temporary non-competition. Whereas with any other type of ownership, you can possibly own it until you die, and pass it from generation to generation or until it ceases to be anymore in case of living organisms. So I guess, I'm in favor of the view that ownership implies that one would have the right to keep whatever they wanted for whatever amount of time they wished. Patents don't allow that thus it's more a anti-competition protection granted as a reward for being innovative, but the actual concept of the patented item will be handed over to the general public, whether you want it to your not. Here is a article from from a government website that states as much. Patents One might say that a patent is a contract between society as a whole and an individual inventor. Under the terms of this social contract, the inventor is given the exclusive right to prevent others from making, using, and selling a patented invention for a fixed period of time -- in most countries, for up to 20 years -- in return for the inventor's disclosing the details of the invention to the public. Many products would not exist without patent protection, especially those that require substantial investments but, once sold, can be easily duplicated by competitors. At least since 1474, when first granted by the Republic of Venice, patent protection has encouraged the development and distribution of new technologies. When patents are not available, technology is closely held. If inventors had to rely on secrecy to protect their inventions, much important but undisclosed information often would die with them. Patents, however, are not easily obtained. Patent rights are granted not for vague ideas but for carefully tailored claims. To avoid protecting technology already available, or within easy reach of ordinary artisans, those claims are examined by experts. Because patent claims vary as much in value as the technologies they protect, applicants must negotiate claims of appropriate defensible scope. (Defensible scope means that applicants must be careful in setting the boundaries of what their invention consists of and what can be protected from infringement in their invention.) This often takes two or more years and is expensive. Thanks Anyway, we disagree on ownership, this thread is getting way off topic. You say ownership can exist even when it is forced to end by a set in stone time. And I say ownership can only end when the owner says it ends.
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