How to Invent and Protect Your Invention: A Guide to Patents for Scientists and Engineers

2.3 ARE PATENTS A MONOPOLY?

You may have heard critics of the patent system deride patents as a government-sanctioned monopoly. A monopoly is the exclusive right of making or selling something in a specified domain, whereas a patent is a grant of rights to limit others’ actions for a limited time and applies to inventions not in the public domain. A patent does not take anything from the public that is already available to the public. When someone mentions the word monopoly, you likely think of an individual company dominating the economy in a way that limits consumer options and stifles competition. While patents do grant an exclusive right for a limited time, the patent system does the opposite of a traditional monopoly: It encourages research, investment in new technology, and ultimately competition. After all, no invention can be made without some investment of time and money, and it often takes a substantial amount of money to turn an invention into a saleable product. Few pharmaceutical companies would invest the roughly $1 billion it takes to bring a new drug to market if another company could simply take their hard work as soon as it is completed. Similarly, few home inventors would publicize their own inventions if a large company could swoop in and start mass-producing the invention without paying a penny. Patent systems worldwide have been carefully calculated to give inventors and investors the incentive they need to develop a useful product and bring it to market, ...