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mullf's Avatar
Posts: 610 | Thanked: 391 times | Joined on Feb 2006 @ DC, USA
#75
Originally Posted by eiffel View Post
Not at all. The general idea is that without patents, every company would provide R&D to produce incremental improvements to gain an edge in the market. Improvements would soon flow back into the commons, for others to improve upon.
That occurs today. It is the big, multi-million dollar inventions (e.g. life-saving drugs) that are dis-incentivized by lack of patent protection.