A monopoly (from Greek μόνος mónos [“alone” or “single”] and πωλεῖν pōleîn [“to sell”]) exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity or product. A patent is a form of intellectual property that gives its owner the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, and importing a product. In other words, a patent is a law that protects a monopoly.
In theory, patents were originally considered as “protectors” of innovation, but in practice, unfortunately, patents are creating and protecting monopolies like Microsoft, Apple, etc.
Such monopolies through the mainstream media relentlessly publish bold propaganda priding patents as the cradle of innovation when the only reason why such large corporations became so rich or so big is by stifling innovation and strangling any competition through monopoly rights, patents, and endless lawsuits.
The false perception about patents can be summarized as follows:
Corporations invest a lot of money and effort in discovering new technology or solutions and they deserve to be rewarded for sharing the fruits of their respective work. Otherwise, why should they go on discovering or improving products?
This general perspective is very shortsighted and ignores roughly seven thousand years of recorded history when the economy of civilizations flourished through free trading in true open markets that had no such concepts as patents.
Not all scientists or engineers are driven by profit. Many scientists such as Nicola Tesla (Serbian-American inventor and futurist who is best known for his contributions to the design of the alternating current) genuinely desire to discover solutions that could help people in their daily lives just for the sake of science.
If scientists or engineers cannot innovate as some folks falsely allege without the security offered by the horrifically tyrannical concept of patenting, which inescapably incubate monopolies, then humanity doesn’t deserve innovation.
China follows the “right to copy,” and their economy is doing just fine. China is producing a new billionaire every five days! If you examine the level of technology the Chinese have access to and enjoy today thanks to the “right to copy,” you’ll understand that it benefits the society as a whole as they have many options for any technology while the prices are very cheap and affordable to almost everyone.
Patenting is a tool to make fortunes out of ideas, build corporate empires and inhibit innovation and startups in favor of monopolies.
It is time to abolish the monopoly rights in favor of the right to copy.