The aim of the end-of-patent system is to let the existing patent system naturally extinguish. The need for this system is motivated by the fact that patents as such hinder technological progress, obstruct free market competition and increase costs of innovation. The old patent paradigm, employing the outdated legislation, forms a huge barrier to the progress of humanity.
The aim of the end-of-patent system is to let the existing patent system naturally extinguish. The need for this system is motivated by the fact that patents as such hinder technological progress, obstruct free market competition and increase costs of innovation. The old patent paradigm, employing the outdated legislation, forms a huge barrier to the progress of humanity.
The aim of the end-of-patent system is to let the existing patent system naturally extinguish. The need for this system is motivated by the fact that patents as such hinder technological progress, obstruct free market competition and increase costs of innovation. The old patent paradigm, employing the outdated legislation, forms a huge barrier to the progress of humanity.
End-of-patent system intended for gradual dissolution of the
existing patent system worldwide.
The intention of the End-of-patent system is to let the
5 existing patent system worldwide naturally extinguish by applying the basic freedom of every single human being to share in and utilize the sum of all knowledge available; this by employing the principle of "prior art" disclosure and by making use of the information and communication technology. 10 The need for this system is motivated by the fact that patents as such hinder technological progress, obstruct free market competition and incredibly increase costs of innovation. Extraordinarily complex and multitudinous information on existing patents makes it impossible for new and independent ideas to be 15 worked out and implemented. Competing patent rights are actually impeding such important field as health care and prevent useful and affordable consumer products from reaching the marketplace. In most jurisdictions the patent legislation allows everyone to patent any more or less valuable idea, and therefore keep it 20 fenced from the rest of the world, even if the patent owner does not do and / or is not intending to do anything with it. Very often patents are conferring a "negative right" upon patent owners, permitting them to exclude competitors from using or exploiting an invention. 25 In short, the old patent paradigm, employing the outdated legislation, forms a huge barrier to the progress of humanity and stays in the way of the open society and open information paradigm. The most troubling aspect of the Paris Convention for the 30 Protection of Industrial Property, and the legal effect it imposes on all national jurisdictions, is the provision of the right to claim priority, and receive the benefit of the original filing date. Getting a time stamp from the patent office formally makes the applicant the patent owner and protects him and his ideas with 35 all the power of the civil state. While in too many situations other groups or individuals are simultaneously working out the same idea(s), being compelled by the legal system to keep them secret, and if they have bad luck to be later at the patent office 2
than the first applicant, they see their investments evaporating.
This does not work however if an idea or an invention has already been published, i.e. made open to wide public in journals, papers, books, etc. The date of publishing is the time stamp 5 preventing it from patenting. Now we propose to use this principle and the achievements of the modern information technology to diminish the role of, or even in the future totally abandon, the existing patent system. This can be done by openly publishing on the Internet as many as 10 possible ideas, inventions and creations being submitted any time from anywhere by anybody. The End-of-patent system and the process underlying this patent request may generally be described as follows: The system has a free on-line accessible front-end providing 15 any private or juridical person or any other entity (Contributor) with a possibility to submit inventions, ideas, creations of any kind, software, (descriptions of) new process, machinery, article of manufacture, drugs or composition of matter, as well as other scientific, technological, social, philosophical and other 20 solutions, or any new and useful improvements thereof. This is called 'submitted item'. A contributor when submitting an item to the system will have to agree to release the submitted item in public domain forever, and get rid of any claims of ownership, copyrights, rights to 25 receive benefits and other rights with regard to the submitted item, and simultaneously transfer all the rights with regard to the submitted item to the whole society in the broadest sense of the word. In other words, by submitting the item to the system the contributor will automatically issue a non-exclusive license to 30 use the item anytime for any purpose to everyone. The submitted item will at the moment of submission be automatically provided with an unalterable digital time stamp which will fix the moment of the submission. The contributor will get a possibility to categorize the 35 submitted item. The contributor will get a possibility to add her / his personal data to the submitted item. All information regarding submitted items will be freely and 3
read-only accessible to everybody.
An on-line search engine allowing to easily find submitted items or search for items satisfying certain criteria will be part of the system. 5 An ever growing data base of submitted items will finally make registering new patents practically impossible and economically non-viable, as virtually all possible ideas and combinations thereof will be in public domain, where they belong to.
10 4
C O N C L U S I E S
1. Het End-of-patent systeem voorbestemd voor het stapsgewijs
nodeloos maken van het bestaand wereldwijd octrooisysteem dat in 5 de weg staat van de vrije marktwerking, belemmert de technologische vooruitgang en verhoogt de kosten van de technologische innovatie. 2. Het End-of-patent systeem volgens conclusie 1, met het kenmerk, dat het gebaseerd is op de fundamentele vrijheid van 10 mensen om kennis met elkaar te delen en elkaars kennis te benutten, en gebruik maakt van het “prior art” principe. 3. Het End-of-patent systeem volgens conclusie 1, met het kenmerk, dat dit systeem, gebruikmakend van de informatie- en communicatietechnologie, het automatisch publiceren van nieuwe 15 kennis in de vorm van (informatie over) nieuwe uitvindingen, creaties en ideeën in de vorm van software, nieuwe processen, machines, fabricaten, producten, assemblages, medicijnen of synthetische materialen, evenals andere wetenschappelijke, technologische, sociale, filosofische en andere oplossingen, of 20 nieuwe en nuttige verbeteringen daarvan, voor iedereen mogelijk en laagdrempelig maakt. 4. Het End-of-patent systeem volgens conclusie 3, met het kenmerk, dat dit systeem het automatisch publiceren van nieuwe kennis het verdere octrooiering van deze kennis onmogelijk maakt. 25
------------- 5
U I T T R E K S E L
The intention of the End-of-patent system is to let the
existing patent system worldwide naturally extinguish by applying the basic freedom of every single human being to share in and utilize the sum of all knowledge available; this by employing the principle of "prior art" disclosure and by making use of the information and communication technology. The system shall allow on-line and free registration and automatic publishing of (information on) new inventions, creations and ideas in the form of software, new process, machinery, article of manufacture, drugs or composition of matter, as well as other scientific, technological, social, philosophical and other solutions, or any new and useful improvements thereof. Following the registration, a new invention and / or idea will be published on-line providing public access to its description and possible applications. Voluntarily publishing of these new inventions and ideas will: 1) automatically prevent further patenting them and thus obtaining exclusive rights, 2) prevent dangers monopolistic usage of knowledge, 3) provide anybody with non-exclusive rights to exploit them for any purpose, 4) ensure that new inventions and ideas are not getting lost for society.