The Law of Unintended Consequences: Patents

An anonymous reader writes "Fortune has an interesting article about the relationship between patent law and innovation. It compares the biotech industry with the computer industry and discusses the effects of the Bayh-Dole amdendment, which has allowed universities to make a lot of cash. But in the process innovation and scientific collaboration seem to have been stifled."

Comments

What Are They Talking About?

[TheComputerMutt.ca]

Of course patents help science and tech! If patents hadn't existed, The Great E could never have gotten a job at the patent office, and may never have ended up making his amazing findings, or maybe never publishing them.

Where would we be then?

Re:What Are They Talking About?

[halcyon1234]

Of course patents help science and tech! If patents hadn't existed, The Great E could never have gotten a job at the patent office, and may never have ended up making his amazing findings, or maybe never publishing them.

Where would we be then?

Moving faster than the speed of light, that's where we'd be.

Re:What Are They Talking About?

[halcyon1234]

And back in time?

In theory. But then you might accidently reinvent the Patent process and *bang* we've got Einstien again (re-again?)... AND a paradox.

Are you happy, now... urr... then?... um...

If Bio Tech

[Martin Spamer]

... had made the same progress as IT, we would all live to be 100,000 year old and be as smaller as an amoeba.

Re:Real unintended consequences--Mansfield Amendme

[jc42]

... funding through some agency such as the Office of Navel Research.

That would be research funded by the Navel Academy, I presume.