• Buffalox@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    The original idea with patents is to help protect small inventors from being run over by bigger corporations.
    But the result is more often the opposite, where small inventors that have a genuinely profitable novel product, is quickly forced to bankruptcy by frivolous patent suits, even when the new product is patented, and when bankrupt bought for peanuts by the bigger corp.

    The other main basis for patents is that the technology should not be lost, in case of the inventors death.
    But the way tech works today, that is no-longer relevant.

    5 year patent would absolutely be better than what we have IMO.

    • lunarul@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Same for copyright law. The point was to give creators a few years to profit from their work before it goes into public domain.

    • tibi@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Also the patent office needs to employ actual specialists and reject the bullshit patents, like rounded rectangles.

      • Buffalox@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Exactly, and Christ the Apple vs Samsung on Samsung copying the iPad “design” was ridiculous!
        I don’t know if that was what you meant, but that’s what I immediately thought of.