When Ventura was Gov, the state was flush with money. They joined together and cut taxes (we got Jessie rebates) and the bickering was not central to life. Since 2000 we have had three rounds of deficits, a "no new taxes" governor and both senate and house held by a different party. We have had one state shut down in this period and are headed to one this year. I follow politics here and am pretty sure they are no longer friends. In fact it is commonly stated that the lack of collegiality is a real problem - no compromise by either side. Worse than US Senate.
I work for a manufacturing company and not pharma or IR, so my comments apply to my area only.
1. Patents are hard to get, it often takes 3 to 5 years to work through the system (various countries with different rules). Patent coverage time starts when you file, not when you get the patent, so these years are "lost".
2. Patents are expensive to obtain with filing fees and maintenance fees that climb each year as countries use them as income sources.
3. Yes, many patents are incremental, you need to cover your exact formula or construction so to be not prevented from making your product by someone else disclosing/patenting the same thing (maybe not their favorite method but covered by their patent). Even though you may be able to prove you kept this a trade secret and thus legally allowed to practice, it takes quite a bit of lawyering to protect this right.
4. If your company regularly patents and supports the lawyers and such to prepare and argue patents (because patents have protected your business in the past) then the culture of patenting exists and you can then put $$ into R&D and get truly novel stuff invented and patented.
5. Patenting sometimes spurs competitors to come up with even a better method that is eventually adopted. The Wright brothers patented the method of "wing warping" to control planes direction (the fabric covering the wing had its shape changed to alter the lift characteristics). One reason they worked in remote areas like Kitty Haway was to avoid competition seeing what they were up to. To get around this patent the current system of ailerons was invented.
6. In many industries patenting does "educate" the rest of us working in the field. The disclosure of information (albeit obscure as they can legally arrange) does nudge the scientific ball a little further up the hill.
Yes there are some flaws with patents. Silly patents, patents that seem to be patenting the same exact thing. Lawsuits eventually sort these out. But there is no other system that is better and as I have argued, no coverage at all is not good and really not an option any longer.
I liked the story as my wife and I have attempted to raise two brilliant daughters. It is challenging as they push the bounds of what the education system will normally allow. How to keep them from being bored. They can out think us and so your arguments have to be well considered when discussing limitations you try to put on some activity.
My daughter had a stroke last week (doing find now to great care and quick action). But upon discharge they wanted follow up blood work, but she can't get to the hospital where she was treated. Another clinic in a competing health chain was closest: but they can't get at her records! She had to fill out a form and get a copy of her records and then arrange to fax them to the clinic (a kind nurse did this for us but it was not standard for this hospital to do the faxing). Then upon release she needed to adjust a drug dosage; the neurology clinic of her neurologist who treated her in this hospital did not have her records 3 days later ! A full 24 hours wasted waiting for the fax of the records. Then the neurologist went on vaction and did not leave a "backup" doctor nor a "on call" phone number. So even once the records were found another day lapsed due to her new doctor (drawing the blood and advising the change in medication) could consult with the neurology clinic about this change. Electronic records, available to anyone we designate would have helped.
We seriously considered taking her back the ER to force an "on call" neurologist to show up and give us the consult on the drugs. I have great insurance, this would not have cost me anything, yet costs the system plenty. All because of "typical" behavior of hospitals, doctors, competing health clinics and faults in the system.
So I am hoping this can be worked out. I do think it will save money and is a good first step toward needed changes in healthcare.
I turn on the computer and step away to find my coffee cup, rinse out. Return and the computer is ready for me to log on. I log on and then go get coffee (a short walk) and say a quick hello, and look at paper mail box. When I return the computer has loaded all the stuff for my account and is ready to go. And I am ready to go as well having used the time to get my coffee. My point is that you can get into a routine where the time waiting to boot is not wasted.
The alternative of paper ballots is not much more accurate. I am in Minnesota and we are still counting ballots 5 months later and have 312 votes separating the candidates out of 5 million cast. Devil in the details regarding absentee ballots. Sort of a MN version of hanging chads.
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When Ventura was Gov, the state was flush with money. They joined together and cut taxes (we got Jessie rebates) and the bickering was not central to life. Since 2000 we have had three rounds of deficits, a "no new taxes" governor and both senate and house held by a different party. We have had one state shut down in this period and are headed to one this year. I follow politics here and am pretty sure they are no longer friends. In fact it is commonly stated that the lack of collegiality is a real problem - no compromise by either side. Worse than US Senate.
I work for a manufacturing company and not pharma or IR, so my comments apply to my area only.
1. Patents are hard to get, it often takes 3 to 5 years to work through the system (various countries with different rules). Patent coverage time starts when you file, not when you get the patent, so these years are "lost".
2. Patents are expensive to obtain with filing fees and maintenance fees that climb each year as countries use them as income sources.
3. Yes, many patents are incremental, you need to cover your exact formula or construction so to be not prevented from making your product by someone else disclosing/patenting the same thing (maybe not their favorite method but covered by their patent). Even though you may be able to prove you kept this a trade secret and thus legally allowed to practice, it takes quite a bit of lawyering to protect this right.
4. If your company regularly patents and supports the lawyers and such to prepare and argue patents (because patents have protected your business in the past) then the culture of patenting exists and you can then put $$ into R&D and get truly novel stuff invented and patented.
5. Patenting sometimes spurs competitors to come up with even a better method that is eventually adopted. The Wright brothers patented the method of "wing warping" to control planes direction (the fabric covering the wing had its shape changed to alter the lift characteristics). One reason they worked in remote areas like Kitty Haway was to avoid competition seeing what they were up to. To get around this patent the current system of ailerons was invented.
6. In many industries patenting does "educate" the rest of us working in the field. The disclosure of information (albeit obscure as they can legally arrange) does nudge the scientific ball a little further up the hill.
Yes there are some flaws with patents. Silly patents, patents that seem to be patenting the same exact thing. Lawsuits eventually sort these out. But there is no other system that is better and as I have argued, no coverage at all is not good and really not an option any longer.
I liked the story as my wife and I have attempted to raise two brilliant daughters. It is challenging as they push the bounds of what the education system will normally allow. How to keep them from being bored. They can out think us and so your arguments have to be well considered when discussing limitations you try to put on some activity.
My daughter had a stroke last week (doing find now to great care and quick action). But upon discharge they wanted follow up blood work, but she can't get to the hospital where she was treated. Another clinic in a competing health chain was closest: but they can't get at her records! She had to fill out a form and get a copy of her records and then arrange to fax them to the clinic (a kind nurse did this for us but it was not standard for this hospital to do the faxing). Then upon release she needed to adjust a drug dosage; the neurology clinic of her neurologist who treated her in this hospital did not have her records 3 days later ! A full 24 hours wasted waiting for the fax of the records. Then the neurologist went on vaction and did not leave a "backup" doctor nor a "on call" phone number. So even once the records were found another day lapsed due to her new doctor (drawing the blood and advising the change in medication) could consult with the neurology clinic about this change. Electronic records, available to anyone we designate would have helped. We seriously considered taking her back the ER to force an "on call" neurologist to show up and give us the consult on the drugs. I have great insurance, this would not have cost me anything, yet costs the system plenty. All because of "typical" behavior of hospitals, doctors, competing health clinics and faults in the system. So I am hoping this can be worked out. I do think it will save money and is a good first step toward needed changes in healthcare.
I also wish I had some modpoints to rate this comment. Great chuckle.
I turn on the computer and step away to find my coffee cup, rinse out. Return and the computer is ready for me to log on. I log on and then go get coffee (a short walk) and say a quick hello, and look at paper mail box. When I return the computer has loaded all the stuff for my account and is ready to go. And I am ready to go as well having used the time to get my coffee. My point is that you can get into a routine where the time waiting to boot is not wasted.
Correction to my post. 3 million votes (not 5).
The alternative of paper ballots is not much more accurate. I am in Minnesota and we are still counting ballots 5 months later and have 312 votes separating the candidates out of 5 million cast. Devil in the details regarding absentee ballots. Sort of a MN version of hanging chads.
The reason Model Ts were black is that the black paint dried faster so Ford could crank out more cars per unit of time. So this is all his fault.