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How to make the patent system fairer


From: Mark Kent
Subject: How to make the patent system fairer
Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 13:06:49 +0000
User-agent: slrn/0.9.7.4 (Linux)

Troy Kirkland <kirk@google.com> espoused:

<snip>
> 
> Primarily because despite 
> some flaws, it's basically a fair system. 

No, it's not a fair system.  The person who does the work rarely gets
the reward - that is an *unfair* system.  

On this occasion, your misunderstanding is so vast, it's
worth noting it for the record.

<snip statement of present employment practices>

Currently, consultants hire hospital space from hospitals and charge
patients for their work.  There is no reason why that approach couldn't
work here.  Perhaps it might be linked to deals on licensing
opportunities, even a deal which permitted the supplier of lab-space
to get an exclusive licence for a period under certain conditions,
which would include actually marketing the product, say.

> 
> One day "Dr. Smart" makes a breakthrough discovery in cancer research and 
> gets a patent. 

First, the breakthrough is made by Dr Smart, not by anyone else.  This
is a fundamental point.  

> According to <snip> [Mr.] Kent <snip> Pfizer gets nothing. 

Not at all.  They get paid for the space they've provided for the 
person who made the discovery.  They might also negotiate a deal 
for licensing, too.

<snip>

> Dr. Smart would immediately get job offers from every other pharmaceutical 
> company out there for millions of dollars. The only reason being is that 
> with this insane model they would be able to buy the $100+ million worth of 
> investment/research that Pfizer invested in for pennies on the dollar.

Doh!  No he wouldn't, because the breakthrough belongs to "Dr Smart", so
it doesn't matter who he works for, he owns it, not them.

<snip statement of how it works now>

If Dr Smart got anything, it would be counter offers for licensing.
However you hack this, R&D is a completely separate activity
to production.  As things stand at present, the two are tightly held
together in a vertically integrated arrangement.


-- 
| Mark Kent   --   mark at ellandroad dot demon dot co dot uk          |
| Cola faq:  http://www.faqs.org/faqs/linux/advocacy/faq-and-primer/   |
| Cola trolls:  http://colatrolls.blogspot.com/                        |
| My (new) blog:  http://www.thereisnomagic.org                        |


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