Rongnongno Loc: FL

I was reading an article completely unrelated to photography. It was on botany. Several things were mentioned of interest, mainly chemical stuff but then a small sentence drew my attention...

"As long as we have patent protection that can last for over fifty years we will not make any progress on anything."

Then there was:
"If a patent is slightly modified the counter goes back to 0."

I am well aware the the pharmaceutical industry is using this loophole to prevent their cash cow to fall into the public domain therefore allowing them to keep their price high.

Anyway, can I safely assume it is the same way for photography technology? Can you?

mikegreenwald Loc: Illinois

Not realistically true for either subject. It is a question of economics - cameras, lenses, drugs, anything can be copied with enough modifications to bypass patents, if only the economics makes it worthwhile. The writing of patents is a high-value skill to try to prevent that. More importantly, technology changes, and so-called “biosimilar” drugs circumvent patents. Engineers all learn from the same books, and basic physical principles can’t be patented - hence high quality aftermarket lenses to fit most OEM camera bodies.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

NO

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

It is possible - most likely in the world of sensor technology. Big Pharma is evil - they employ teams of lawyers whose goal is to get patent continuations. Witness Humira - a life saving very expensive drug. They are now advertising how they have taken the sting out of the twice-monthly injection by changing the buffering chemicals. BINGO! Patent extension until 2025! Going generic would have REALLY taken the sting out of this medication!

twice_shooter

Actually it is quite the opposite. Without patent protection there would be less innovation. What incentive would there be to spend substantial amounts of money and time to develop an idea into a marketable product only to have someone just take it and run with it? How would a person/company ever recoup their investment? Without this protection, you take all the risk and succeed and someone else benefits. You fail and you are all alone.

Notorious T.O.D. Loc: Harrisburg, North Carolina

Sounds like China...

jbk224 Loc: Long Island, NY

Actually TS is right on the money. China is a 'State' player that abides by no rules whatsoever. Even if everyone else abides by international patent rules/intellectual property--China doesn't.
This is one of the main reasons for using tariffs to leverage China into abiding by these conventions. And, the success of any deal is not only incumbent upon everyone living up to the agreements, but the ability to 'snap back' to punitive action if someone violates the deal. International agreements are much more problematic to enforce than those, here in the US.

fetzler Loc: North West PA

Twice shooter has the right idea. One should be a bit kinder to the Pharma companies they have a very tough job. It is very expensive and risky to bring a drug to market. A lot of the time, the effort is unsuccessful. Patent law is not kind to drug companies as the patent on the compound starts with it is discovery. This leaves only a few years (about 5) to recover R&D costs. It is true that improvements can exclude generics a few more years but these improvements also require a lot of R&D and interaction with the FDA.

A problem for folks in the US is that they float most of the cost for R&D. Other countries are often freeloaders in this respect. There are a small number of companies that are bad actors but most are not. They are just trying to make money and there are far easier ways to do so.

sabfish

The standard length of time for patents is 20 years, not 50 years.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

Are you folks even aware that most R&D is made in universities and under government grants?

I am not sure where this 'white knight' approach to the pharmaceutical industry comes from.

Also, if you are not aware of this either most generic medicine produced uses the 'lapsed patent' in foreign countries, something the US does not allow due to lobbying and 'lawyering' by the industry.

International patents allows for the legal production of these 'generic' (patent expired) products. Something that is illegal in the US and only in the US. Result? An 'updated' medicament in the US cost an arm and a leg (sometimes literally) when abroad the same "old" medication goes for peanuts.

Difference of effectiveness between the 'new and improved' version and the 'generic version'? None.

Then there are the 'too little too late...

IBM by example had incredible patents that were made available only when the patent life was over. This resulted in the explosion of personal computers (remember IBM DOS? - IBM just did not see the future.) Now IBM is a side player. Their OS2 attempt to compete with Microsoft fizzled out. Too little, too late and too expensive. Yet their product was way ahead of MS Windows.

That said, I am only interested with the photo side of patenting and what is hidden at the moment.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

This is what I know about patient, trademark and copyright law:

It's difficult to find a regular lawyer nowadays. Most of the local law firms in my city have become specialists in personal injury or patten/trademark law. Theses must be lucrative areas of practice for lawyers. One of the law firms, here in Ottawa, Canada have 35 lawyers and they are busy. High tech and pharmaceutical companies are all involved in lawsuits or are seeking pattens.

A friend of mine, an avid amateur photographer, is an electronic engineer. Nortel, the corporation he worked for (for over 20 years) closed down but he was fortunate enough to land a job with the patent office. His job is to examine applications for patients in semiconductors- and he is one busy guy!

Another friend of mine specializes in scientific and technical photography and spends most of his days doing photomicrographs of the innards of chips, semic conductors and microcircuits. Gues-why? Theses images are required for application for patents and for the a the high tech companies suing each other for patent infringement.

So...the engineers and lawyers all have to get paid and the cost of all the legal fees and consultation costs must be reflected in the products we all buy. Seem the legalities comprise an industry in itself.

Add China and all the current political climate and all of this is way above my "paygrade" and enough to boggle the mind. I just end up paying for all this craziness every time I buy gear or electronics.

Pills? Te few we need in our household are covered by OHIP, which is the Ontario Health Insurance Plan. Each Canadain Province Has one and it works just fine. The few meds that are not covered are not expensive up here. We have not paid a medical bill since 1970 and out taxes are reasonable and manageable. Just to let y'all know. Our docs and hospitals are first class!

Blair Shaw Jr Loc: Dunnellon,Florida

I'm not sure about this one. People ,these days, tend to charge what they think they can get from you rather than what the goods & services are actually worth . The desire to have the latest & best of everything is a real symptom of a larger problem sooner or later and they are counting on that frailty and lack of discipline . Nearly all of our successes or failures will be Self-Inflicted.

clint f. Loc: Priest Lake Idaho, Spokane Wa

[quote=E.L.. Shapiro. Just to let y'all know. Our docs and hospitals are first class![/quote]

You are correct, your docs are very good. My wife used to hire Canadian docs to work in the US. They had a different opinion of your health care system.

cbtsam Loc: Monkton, MD

The issue isn't patents or no patents. It is big business abusing patents, by extending a patent infinitely by making trivial changes, and then abusing the patent by charging whatever the traffic will bear and more.

Siemienczuk

Ask your patent office friend about the "point system." It's my understanding (perhaps incorrect) that the reviewers get points in their performance reports every time they issue a denial. I finally had to physically go to the patent office in DC once, about 20 years ago, to defend a patent. That finally worked, after all the denials. I had to pay for my patent attorney to accompany me.