The risk of explosion will then be reflected in the price Coke can sell them for, giving Coke an incentive to take the optimal level of precaution to avoid defective bottles. Since the consumer will bear the cost if his bottle explodes, he will have an incentive to take the optimal level of precaution to avoid using bottles in a way that might make them explode. The advantages of treating something as property rather than a commons are obvious. The homesteading problem, rent seeking in general. B. Copyrights are easy to get and last for a long time.
Patents are hard to get and last for a much shorter time.
Making and patenting an invention does reduce the opportunities for other inventors who might well have produced the same idea eventually. So the costs of enforcing copyright are lower than enforcing patent, which is a reason for giving patents less easily and for shorter terms. Observing that, if someone invents something, someone else who invents it independently cannot use it, is only the first half of the argument. Coca Cola knows the risks better because it has better information about the product. Coca Cola knows the risks better because it is selling many bottles, and thus can expect uncertain outcomes to average out.