Re: The patent process [Was Re: Sharing the Family PC is Patent-Pending]

[Stefan Monnier]

> Have you noticed that many of the large patent portfolios are owned by
> universities these days?

Oh yes.

> This is how they're able to pay their researchers.

Well, not quite yet (after all, it's still a fairly recent development),
but it's becoming one of the largest source of income indeed.

> They used to do it mostly with government grants, but  since the
> government has scaled back on this, they needed to find alternate sources
> of funds.

And that's a major problem, of course.

> > I.e. the question is not just "do patents increase research" but also "what
> > kind of research does it increase".
> Do you really think that *patents* are what spur this?

No, I'm not that naive ;-)

> I think commercialism in general is what does it.

But patents make it more so.


        Stefan