Intellectual Property
From CroziervisionWiki
| Author: Patrick Crozier |
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I am not quite sure what I think about intellectual property (ie copyrights and patents). On the one hand I am against them because I don't like force. On the other, I find it difficult to see why people would go to the bother of, say, spending millions on developing a new drug when someone else could just rip off their idea and undercut them in the market.
Ultimately, if it comes down to a choice between (boo, hiss) intellectual property and no more miracle drug cures, I'll take intellectual property.
However, there is some evidence that my fears are unfounded:
- the case of fashion
- I have been told (by Terence Kealy in a speech) that it is not, actually, all that easy to copy drugs. The amount of expertise required costs almost as much to acquire as developing the drug (or whatever it is) in the first place. Kealy has also written an article in The Times suggesting that patents actually hinder progress.
- It has been said that Italy's drug industry was much more inventive before it gained patent protection
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