Toyota opens its fuel cell patents in bid to make hydrogen cars happen

originally posted by: ExPostFacto
a reply to: Emeraldous

If I remember correctly, patents did not used to be indefinite. They used to last 10 years. After that they were open to the public to produce and use as if their own. Of course, government made a change in the law to forever protect ideas by the original party. The entire problem with this is that the corporate structure functions as a person...yet, it is many, many people who collectively work toward an invention only to patent it under their company name. Unfortunately, these people who all contribute rarely get any rights to the proceeds. Even though it took a collective effort to invent, a small group at the top reap the rewards, and keep the rights indefinitely.

I think a true capitalistic market would open patents up for use after a certain period of time. This would prevent exploitation of the public, where others might have the ability to produce the same product for cheaper.

A type 2 civilization would open source all knowledge in real time

Thank you guys for the technical information. The main idea I see is sharing knowledge with the public, that they can tweak and mix with other ideas. Just as you are doing right now here but outside ATS. Hydrogen might cure something, it might spark hydrogen chemistry applications etc