Someone comes along, reads your patent, designs a better mousetrap
that does not practice your specific invention but practices a new design.
This
is what P.J. was describing and does not have to wait for the 20 year
period.
While that is quite correct, that is not the statement
made by PJ which I indicated was incorrect.
Rather, the article
indicated
Isn’t the very nature of a patent to prevent competition
in exchange for the dissemination of information? Yes, yes and YES!
to which PJ said, "Um. No"
This is what I point out as
incorrect.
As I stated earlier, the fact that you can compete with
other technologies does not undermine the fact that patents, by their
very nature, prevent competition using the technology in your patent.
No
they don't remove all competition, but they do by their nature remove
competition. That's what the term "exclusive rights" in patent law is all
about.
To speak only of the benefit to society from the disclosure of the
technology in the patent (after the patent expires) misses half of the equation
in patent law. If there was no removal of the competition using your patent
technology, there would be no patent system. No one would ever bother taking
out a patent. [ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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