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To: jameswallen who wrote (6580)	1/4/2003 10:32:48 AM
From: jameswallen	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10714

Just a passing thought about patents. Many people believe that patents are immoral because they confer on the owner a monopoly position. Patents are two-way street. In order to be awarded the patent, the applicant has to publish their work, thereby placing much of their research into the public domain. My understanding is the most of Nichia's competitor's used the information in Nichia's patent application (GaN + sapphire) as the basis for their research program. Did Nichia do a good job of protecting their patent? In the pharmaceutical industry, once a lead compound is identified, companies will spend years trying to identify other similar compounds that have the same activity so that they can also be patented. Pharmaceutical companies try to apply for the broadest patent possible. I suspect Nichia just patented the process(es) they planned to use.