The Rip: Remix Manifesto movie focused on everything that has gone wrong with copyrights and patents, and the same goes for the other manifestos we’ve read. When watching the video I found the arguments logical and compelling, especially Lessig’s TED talk. He was spot on about our generation mixing, matching, copying, and sharing. The digital age has opened up a huge well of media, ripe for remix and innovation. Personally, I am interested in the effect patents are having on innovation and creativity. In the Spring of 2016 my team from the Art of Making: An Introduction to Hands on Design (I highly recommend the class, as do these students), applied for a provisional patent through the University of Pittsburgh’s Office of Technology Management. We are continuing with the process and looking for commercial interest before the school will officially file for a US patent. More on my project here.
That being said, I do believe the system is broken, and in many ways. The process is long, cumbersome, and expensive. As undergraduate students we didn’t have the personal connections or funds to apply for a patent on our own, so we are partnering with the school to make it happen. Patents are meant to allow inventors to profit from their novel ideas, but the very process of applying for patents is discouraging. How are you supposed to profit from an idea that cost you anywhere between $20,000 and $50,000 and up to five years to attain? In this world where technology is growing exponentially, your invention will be out of date by the time you complete the patent process and legally own the rights to license. Nathan Seidle from SparkFun Electronics explains it quite well in his 2013 TEDxBoulder talk “How Open Hardware will Take Over the World.”
I love the way he says that companies are “unfit” and have “intellectual property obesity.” Companies and institutions are the only ones who have the time and money to get patents, while they are not the ones who need them. They not only have the time and money to get patents, they also have the time and money to manufacture whatever ideas they come up with while continuing to develop and innovate. But they don’t. They get patents and use them to sue people who “infringe” on their intellectual property. Most of those people taking that idea are simply adding to and changing it or finding ways to make it better, faster, and cheaper, all important aspects of having a capitalistic economy.
Patents are intended to ensure inventors a percentage of profits when their idea is sold, not to stunt growth and innovation. Companies should not be able to create monopolies with patents, but that is precisely what they do.
Patent law needs a reform just as much as copyright law. A reform that returns to the spirit of creativity and innovation.
Leave a Reply