Patent Debates Aplenty!

I'm always getting into debates on patents. Here's my latest & most succinct debate yet

Patents as defender of the "little guy":

"The thing is that I like patents for some things, but despise them for others. For example, I like that they can provide IP protection from large corporations. However, I hate it when patents are used against the little guy. I also dislike the idea of process and genome patents. Here's my philosophy: get the patent, but control the licensing and enforcement properly. In other words, get the patent, but only enforce licensing on larger corporate entities, while making the entire thing open source and available online for individuals and small businesses."

My response:

"On patents, I just don't think they provide society with more net value than not having them. I'm with you on process & genome patents, but I think that often big corporations are in the best place to commercialize new innovations - once proven.

As the inventor, your value is in the idea and the initial business promotion, however you don't have the sales channels, contacts, etc. to move many inventions into the main market  - I don't see why inventors deserve any more value than they create - i.e. short term profits of selling to an unproven market before the big corps take over.

However, the small guy often has a lot of advantages over the big guys in lower overheard costs, going against industry monopoly to unleash value, etc. This is how Ford, Google, etc. got their start & maintained from small companies to massive ones."