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Ben Frawley

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Patents hinder the growth and innovation within society.

Have you ever had an idea, only to find that someone else has already patented it but is doing nothing with it. It seem that every idea I have, falls into this category.
I feel that society is missing out on the benefits of innovation because the world is choked by restrictive patents.
I look at China and its"reputation" for disregarding foreign patents. It is moving ahead in leaps and bounds because it chooses to not be bound by such restrictions.
I do see value in patents, but on the other hand I see they have a big negative too.
I feel that world wide patent law needs an overhaul.
What do you think?

Regards Benny

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    Elizabeth Gu 30+

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    Jun 21 2012: Fair enough.
    But Patents also foster the growth of creativity in society.
    If there's no such thing, who would try to invent something innovative?
    Awarding a patent is a great incentive to the inventors.
    Inventing something requires uniqueness and creativity, but it also needs positive incentives--such as patent right.
    I agree that it can also be one of the factors which hinder the growth of creativity because there are so many complicated rules when it comes to patent. So people sometimes cannot even try to create something just because of the fear that this invention can be the counterfeit(so to speak) of the original one--the patented one.

    I know that quite a lot of Chinese factories are making similar ones.

    Speaking of 'similar', without patent, people would re-do the same works if there's no patent law.
    They will--intentionally or otherwise--try to imitate other products. Because there’s no specific rule that says they must not imitate others’ products. Then, there would be no compelling demand that they must produce something totally different from the patent products.


    Well, in our society, it seems like we have few chances to create something new since there are so many inventions that might be similar to ‘our thing’ because of this Patent thing.
    Nonetheless, with these limited options, people can be more creative and innovative.
    It does works.
    That's why I think Patent does not hinder the growth of innovation or creativity.

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