Alternate headline: "EA did a good thing in latest attempt to get off naughty list"

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[–] 6 points 2 years ago (1 child)

Oh boy are you wrong. Check out the patents to polio vaccines, or Volvos three point seatbelt.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)

    What? There was no polio vaccine patent. The inventor literally did exactly what I suggested. He made his work freely available so that it could not be patented. Volvo made a business decision to make their patent freely usable and we are still talking about it. Their brand has been permanently associated with safety because of it.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

    Exactly! They tried to patent it, but it didn’t meet the requirements (https://www.ipeg.com/jonas-salk-inventor-of-the-polio-vaccine-could-you-patent-the-sun).

    Notice how they tried to patent it “to prevent companies from making unlicensed, low-quality versions of the vaccine. There is no sign that the foundation intended to profit from a patent on the polio vaccine.”

    EDIT: and on the other hand, you get things like insulin, where the patent was sold for $1 (https://www.vox.com/2019/4/3/18293950/why-is-insulin-so-expensive)

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