Does a Patent System "Promote the Progress of Science"?
The purpose of the patent system is “[t]o promote the progress of science and useful arts. . .” Does it? I believe it does, though there are too many factors that go into “promoting the progress” to provide an adequate answer. However, it cannot be argued that the most technically developed countries have strong patent systems and one of the essential steps a developing nation must make to continue economic progress is to implement strong patent laws. In these developing countries, it can be argued that a weak patent system can fuel early and fast economic growth but a stronger system of patent laws is required to maintain and sustain a strong economy.
There has been much recent discussion concerning whether the patent system stimulates or stifles innovation. Members of the software industry have consistently argued that the present patent system undermines that purpose. This is not a new argument, President Lincoln, a patent holder and strong advocate of the patent system, declared that "The patent system added the fuel of interest to the fire of genius." The United States has always had a strong patent system and has a reputation of encouraging innovation.
The basic design of the patent system is for the government to grant a limited monopoly, exclusive right, to an inventor is exchange for disclosure to the public of the invention. The patent system should be properly designed and balances such that each party, the inventor and the public, is properly rewarded on a substantially equal basis. The Courts and the United States Patent and Trademark Office apparently believe that the balance ahs shifted too far toward that inventor and have begun to shift the balance back to the public. Recent cases, KSR (making it harder to get a patent by making it easier for the USPTO to reject a claim), In re Bilski (limiting the subject matter that is available for patenting), In re Seagate Technology (making it harder to obtain injunctions against infringers, and the USPTO proposed rule changes limiting the ability to file continuation applications.
The proper balance of rewarding the inventor and providing a steady and consistent flow of scientific information to the public is the heart of the patent system. For every disclosed innovation, several uses of the innovation become obvious and free for the public to use, several improvement innovations are developed that allow the first commercial products embodying the innovation to be brought to the market, several uses of the innovation become obvious and free for the public to use, a person with entrepreneurial skill may contact the inventor and they both will reap the rewards of the invention. The patent system should not be analyzed solely on the basis of the one monopoly that has been granted on a patent that you or your company wants to practice but by the systemic economic effects a patent system has on the economy of a nation.
