Do We Still Need Patents
Wisdom Systems Make More Sense
Let’s make some definitions first.
Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_property?wprov=sfla1)
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent?wprov=sfla1)
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educational, or musical form. Copyright is intended to protect the original expression of an idea in the form of a creative work, but not the idea itself. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright?wprov=sfla1)
Trade secrets are a type of intellectual property that includes formulas, practices, processes, designs, instruments, patterns, or compilations of information that have inherent economic value because they are not generally known or readily ascertainable by others, and which the owner takes reasonable measures to keep secret. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_secret?wprov=sfla1)
Patents are meant to reward the innovator. They serve as a business model. They exist to make sure that the creator has benefited. The old way of protecting patents and rewarding innovators with the IP law and court hearings seem to be obsolete.
As experts are pointing out what we should do with patents, we need a better way of celebrating innovations and honoring inventors. The most interesting way of doing this is to create wisdom systems that serve as repositories to world innovations.