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2. Implementing algorithms to do something is inventive. The first patent in the US was a method for making pot -ash. That 's an algorithm, a system of steps. He did not get the patent on the algorithm , he got the patent for the implementation of the steps. This is a problem of non -fundamental thinking by non -technical judges and then repeated by others.
(From Merriam-Webster - Monopoly:
1: exclusive ownership through legal privilege, command of supply, or concerted action
2: exclusive possession or control
3: a commodity controlled by one party)
Since a patent prevents all others from using that item, it causes an effective monopoly, regardless of whether the owner of the patent exercises those rights or not. To say otherwise is a legal distinction that has no practical difference for all intents and purposes.
1. Two people can, have, and do simultaneously invent and discover. Both earned the right to the property.
2. US law does, indeed, recognize (some) mathematical theorems and algorithms, (as computer "software" or programs); but does so inconsistently.
3. Not in that essay, but here in other discussions, I pointed out that no other property rights expire. You can pass your home or car to your heirs, but patents and copyrights expire. I know what Ayn Rand said. She did not prove it; she just asserted it.
4. As noted in the opening of the title essay here, US Patent Law _changed_ from "first to invent" to "first to file." I had to point that out in discussions here. Neither you nor Dale ever mentioned it. You both seemed fine with it. SInce then, Dale has back-pedalled. Where do you stand on that?
5. When Samuel Hopkins received the first US Patent for his potash process, you had to _actually have the production method_ (device, machine, process). AFTER 1870 the law changed; and you could get a patent on the _plans_ (algorithm; description) without an actual working model or device. I pointed out in the original essay that US patent law changed in 1870.
You take every question about present US patent law as an assault on all property rights. That is illogical. It shows your emotional commitment to something very close to you.
Of course I have a monopoly on my house. I have a natural right to ownership, and I have force of law to back that up. Why is this such a difficult concept?
Does one have a natural right to their property? Yes.
Is it proper that there be a mechanism to enforce such rights? Yes.
What is the mechanism that we have established to enforce such rights? Patent and Trademark law.
I don't derive my rights from P&T, I enforce my rights using P&T and the force of gov't.
We on the libertarian spectrum use the word "monopoly" ambiguously; and you know that. When others complain about corporate "monopolies" we start by asserting that everyone has a "_natural_ monopoly" on their own skills and labor. After some more rhetoric, we grant that the government uses coercive force (or the threat of it) to create _unnatural_ monopolies, for instance in electrical, water, and gas utilities; of course in government agencies such as roads, the Mint, and the post office; doctors, and lawyers, and barbers (via licensing and regulation); and so on.
That last is one of the points contrary to present law. No people can stand in the same place at the same time; land cannot be replicated. Land ownership is a natural monopoly. But two or more people can, have, and do invent or discover the same thing at about the same time. (Einstein's Relativity denied simultaneity.) I believe that any independent inventor has a right to the product of their mind. To grant it to one of them via state coercion is an unnatural monopoly.
[BTW: Why is Robbie's being ignorant - if he is - embarrassing to you? Did you give him a passing grade in Property 101 or something? I realize that you have an interest in this because as a patent attorney, you work within the present system. Therefore, many of your responses are laden with emotions; and they often are energized by barbs, zingers, cuts, and slams. You do not like being knocked from the cat bird's seat. (I did not give you the thumbs down, though I was tempted just for that slight to Robbie.)]