THW abolish patents

In many countries, a patent system allows inventors and patent trolls that own, but do not use, patents to prevent others from using their patented methods without permission. While patent supporters may argue that patents encourage innovation and make things better for everyone, patents, in reality, cause corporate monopolies and unfair litigation that actually hamper innovation. Patents can be, and have been, abused by big corporations in ways that go against the original point of patenting. By "abolishing patents", I mean abolishing the patent system; anybody would be free to make a product that employs methods of working similar to that of someone else. However, copyright law remains in place. This means that, while someone can, say, use Apple"s patented "slide to unlock" feature in their otherwise completely different smartphone, they cannot copy Apple"s iPhone"s exact hardware or software design to make a clone. This house shall be modeled as the entire world.I believe that, in this debate, I need to prove one thing: that the world is better off without patents. I shall do so with two points: firstly, the harms of patents, and secondly, an evaluation of how the post-patent world would differ from our status quo. Patents discourage innovation and encourage monopolies, going against their original purposeIn the status quo, patents do not encourage innovation, they discourage it. An innovator who would have otherwise made a novel application of or changes to an existing patent might fear litigation from the owner of the existing patent. Patent laws usually allow using existing innovations if they are changed to be "novel", but big companies with big legal teams can simply threaten litigation against innovators who improve on their patents, and that could scare innovators into not using their novel approach to the existing patent because they cannot pay for legal fees, even if the big companies" cases against them do not stand up. Under our current system, big companies have an incentive to threaten baseless lawsuits against smaller companies or individuals who compete against them, regardless of whether their allegations hold up in court.Patents could also discourage competition by encouraging monopolies. If technologies essential for making a product are patented, and the original patent holder does not license them to anyone else, then it would be impossible for competitors to exist. With fewer competitors, there is less of an incentive for the original patent holder to improve on their invention, make it cheaper, or make it more accessible by manufacturing it on a larger scale. Even if no true patent infringement exists, competitors could still end up paying extortionate dues to the patent holder due to a fear of litigation. For instance, Android vendors paid Microsoft dues because Android"s kernel supposedly violated Microsoft patents, despite there being no hard proof of such a violation. [1] This ends up forcing the competitors to sell their products for higher prices to help pay for the dues, causing a quasi-monopoly.A world without patentsNow that I have told you the problems associated with patents, I shall move on to prove that abolishing patents has more benefits than risks. Those who oppose abolishing patents often argue that doing so would discourage innovators from inventing things as they fear their inventions being stolen, leading to less innovation. In reality, however, patents actually create more innovation. In a patent-free world, innovators still create the same number of ideas. They might be more likely to turn these ideas into products, as they don"t have to worry about someone before them already having thought of one of the ideas. After the ideas become profitable products, the innovator would get a successful business. Only then would the competitors start making similar products, which would encourage competition from the innovator, who would make his product stand out from the rest. In the beginning, the innovator never needed to fear about their inventions being stolen, as inventions become adopted by others only after they become profitable or potentially profitable products, letting them known to the world. As such, a patent free world has more innovation than a world with patents.ConclusionAs I have demonstrated above, patents do harm, and the primary objection to them is illogical. Therefore, I believe that I have fulfilled my burden for the motion "this house would abolish patents."SOURCES[1]http://www.zdnet.com...