Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sun Tzu who wrote (169869)	8/25/2005 4:16:10 PM
From: bentway	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

Mickey Mouse isn't patented, he's copyrighted. When copyrights were invented, the idea was that the copyright holder, a human being, would die, his family would have the copyright for a while, and then that would lapse and whatever his artistic or literary creation was would belong to the public, as a lot of classical and old artworks do today. Then corporations were granted the legal status of human beings. They live forever, and so do their copyrights!

To: Sun Tzu who wrote (169869)	8/25/2005 4:26:42 PM
From: geode00	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

The rule of thumb is that 95% of patents never turn a profit. Of course if you read some of the patents the cause of this remains obvious. For a really new idea, it takes years to take something to market, get the broad consumer market to accept it and actually turn a profit after your investment. 20 years sounds like a long time but that clock starts ticking no later than a year after you've exhibited or talked about your product in public. Try and get a patent and pay the legal fees ($200/hour on up with no guarantee of acceptance) if you don't write it yourself. You then get to maintain it and DEFEND IT in court. A few years back I heard that the average patent defense cost about $400K. US Patents are good here. You have to pay more for foreign rights. It's not as easy as it looks.

To: Sun Tzu who wrote (169869)	8/25/2005 10:50:08 PM
From: illyia	Respond to of 281500

I agree that one should take a sharp look at patent "laws" - which, imho, are nothing more than corporate piracy - the seizing of human rights to nature or human culture for the benefit of profiteers. I am amazed that people accept the idea that dues must be paid for "ownership" of a gene, use of a cultural icon or Mickey Mouse. I am an artist. I do murals. I have had requests to do murals with Disney characters. I cannot. Those characters are patented. They are the property of Disney. Lucky them... They have no murals on the walls of their admirers... We are eating our culture, we are eating everyone's culture and heritage, for the sake of banksters and profiteers. i. (My genes and my buying habits will remain my own... not that anyone would be impressed... I buy little of the consumer culture, as the things I do purchase are built to last and do.)