Patent Nonsense

ziriyab writes: "This article from The Guardian, after a few paragraphs of corporation bashing, gives an interesting history of two countries (Switzerland and the Netherlands) who flourished without IP laws. The article, while not necessarily suggesting that the abandonment of patent protection is an essential precondition for development, seems to indicate that it can, in the right circumstances, be an effective tool."

Comments

BS

[Dr Kool, PhD]

This is total bullshit. The only market Switzerland flourishes in is the watch market, and that's only because retards are willing to pay any ammount of money for a piece of metal that has the word "Rolex" on it.

Look at every major company that has anything to do with computers. IBM?? It's American, or USian if you prefer. Microsoft?? Even though you all hate them, they are American. What about Intel?? Same. Where are all the billion dollar Swiss/Netherlandian tech start ups??

Am I missing something?

[Registered Coward v2]

What the story really says is people in countries without IP protection "borrow" ideas created elsewhere and build companies on them. Then they lobby for protection (even years later - once they have IP they find valuable) when fear losing control over their inventions. It's no different than what developing countries are trying to do today.

If Switzerland really felt that patents were unnecessary, why not pass a law saying any Swiss company *must* give *anyone* a free license to make anything they have patented - no matter where the patent is registered. Then we would see if a lack of IP protection fosters or hinders a countries long-term economic growth.

Re:Switzerland, bah

[jafac]

The only reason it's the most widely used is because it allows for anonymous accounts. Which generally are used by mobsters, terrorists, tax dodgers, drug dealers, and anyone else seeking a way to enjoy the ill-gotten fruits of their labors.