Re: [offtopic] Re: CocaCola not really a secret

Mr. James W. Laferriere (linker@nightshade.ml.org)
Sat, 11 Apr 1998 03:27:55 -0400 (EDT)


On Fri, 10 Apr 1998, George Bonser wrote:

> On Fri, 10 Apr 1998, David Schwartz wrote:
>
> > >Anyone else find it strange that patent lenghts are becoming longer
> > >lasting, even though tech is moving faster?
>
> One other reson might be how long we are living. When patent laws were
> first written, their term was a significant percentage of a person's
> lifetime. As out lifespans increase due to better nutrition and medical
> discoveries it is natural that the spans of things such as patents would
> grow.
>
> Example: In 1800 what percentage of patent holders were alive to see it
> expire and what is that percentage today?

I guess I just dont agree with long-term patents (i.e. over two or three
years)...

I've always been of the school of thought: 'You do something right, you
enjoy it a bit.. Then you do something differnt and hopefully better.'..
I've always though it was best to avoide stagnation, you never know when
someone will make you obsolete.. :)

-
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in
the body of a message to majordomo@vger.rutgers.edu