Mapletrade on Nostr: Do I need patents? No. It is a mentality I think. I produce something I enjoy(I know ...

Do I need patents? No. It is a mentality I think. I produce something I enjoy(I know I didn't invent it) I would gladly show someone else how to make it and sell it side by side. Teaching them as my neighbor taught me. He never cared I would sell at the same market. I take my syrup serious. Are there all kinds of shortcuts to take in maple syrup. (Yep, thats a different rabbit hole) mine is good because I make it to share, keep it traditional over fire, and make a little for supplies and expanding the next year. Sats for syrup.

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nevent1q…8c6a

This idea of patents - you pay a whole bunch of money to ask gov't to grant you property right so that you have exclusive rights to your own creation for a specific period in time (utility, plant patents hold for 20 years, design patent for 14-15 years) . And then you pay to a few more gov'ts because patents are territorial, and then pay some more as maintenance fees throughout the time period, because you fear of idea theft.

There's been a lot of conversations around this, investors and funders harp on it, valuations highly based on it - but what's the percentage of patent relevance in everyday creation ?

We know better now that no matter how good your invention is, if users don't buy in, patents don't matter, and when users buy-in, brand identity carries a heavy weight. Some of the largest patent holders are also industry monopolies ; Thomas Edison, pharma conglomerates.

This fear of idea theft fostered a culture where everyone pays the government protection money for their invention and its been going on for over 200 years. If you think about it, open source disrupts this culture in its entirety.

One of the most important innovations in today's time, I believe, is going to be on finding ways to monetise an open source business.

Open source defies conventions, challenges norm and removes this fear that's been instilled in you for so long. You work side by side, yet you are individually creative, and nobody gets left behind.