IP: "we wouldn't do that" (nationalize patents)

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2001 19:10:54 -0400 (EDT)
> From: "Mike O'Dell" <mo () ccr org>
> To: dave () farber net
> Subject: "we wouldn't do that" (nationalize patents)
>
>
> uh, the US has done it, and several times
>
> at one point in history, it was impossible to (legally) build
> a steam locomotive in the US because it was impossible to
> obtain all the necessary patents.  If you got a license from
> FOO, then BAR wouldn't license you theirs, and vice versa,
> except there were several more patent holders than two.
>
> the Congress finally got tired of the shouting matches and
> simply nationalized the patents, paid everyone a token fee,
> and then told them all to get busy building railroads instead
> of enriching laywers.
>
> a more recent example was the creation of RCA, the Radio
> Corporation of America.  essentially like before, it was almost
> impossible to obtain all the patent licenses required to build
> state-of-the-art radios without spending a fortune in lawyers
> fees.  when it became important to build radios for the war
> effort, Congress again stepped in, nationalized the patents,
> and the Radio Corporation of America was created to provide
> one-stop-shopping for the bundle of licenses at a cost that
> didn't interfere with production.
>
> yup - several people got very screwed in all this, but the
> US government decided having something widely available was
> more important than any one company getting rich.
>
> so people shouldn't be so quick to throw around "socialist"
> accusations.  we've been there and done that, too.
>
>         -mo


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