[MURG] Uploading IP (intellectual property)

[Major]

cat13 at illrepute.org writes:

> It's also perfectly feasible to prevent anyone else from developing Y
> by refusing to license it.  If Y is vital to uploading, then no one but
> you can allow uploading to go forward - and what happens if you go under?
> Important advances are lost forever under the present patent system all
> the time.

Really? Can you give me an example of this?

As patents are personal property they pass to the receiver when an
individual or business goes bankrupt. The receiver should try to
maximize the return which in the case of a patent means either
licensing it or selling it.

I agree entirely about patents being appropriate for inventions not
discoveries BTW; I think the current patent system needs reform in
that direction.

Forgive me if I have blundered into an ongoing conversation without
understanding how some of the terms are being used.

Major