An ars technica post, Study: free markets superior to patent monopolies, reports:
Our economic system is based on the expectation that markets can provide optimal solutions more efficiently than monopolies, with one glaring exception: patents, which are structured in a “winner takes all” manner. A study appearing in today’s edition of Science suggests that markets might work here, too.
Now, I know, there are many problems with even evaluating an IP system on utilitarian grounds; but the purported innovation-spurring effects of an IP system are what its advocates usually claim in support of having it. So it’s natural to ask: well, where’s the proof? Never is it provided. Study after study concludes that an IP system’s costs are about equal to, or greater than, any benefits it provides. (See my There’s No Such Thing as a Free Patent; What are the Costs of the Patent System?.) So it’s no wonder yet another study concludes this.
