The proposal came from Michael Kremer. It makes some sense, but it has
limits too. Here is the short mention of Kremer in my book on
intellectual property, which is about 60% done.
Michael Kremer has suggested an interesting procedure to reward
the production of intellectual property while avoiding the some of
the distortions associated with treating intellectual property as
a monopoly (Kremer 1998). He proposed that patents be put up an
auction. The winning bidders would be allowed keep some of the
patents, but the state would purchase the majority for the price
of the winning bid, plus a premium. The state would then put its
auctions in the private domain.
Kremer's method seems superior to the situation as it exists
today. Some of the patents would still remain as private
monopolies. More important, this procedure would still privatize
the rewards from scientific research, leading to the secrecy that
threatens the scientific process.
[
Jim Devine wrote:
>
> I posted an article to pen-l awhile back where the author argued that
> instead of giving a patent-type monopoly to the patent-holder, the latter
> should be rewarded according to an auction process. It was more complicated
> than that, but the idea was quite capitalist in intention, to create the
> incentive to invest in inventions while opening up the flow of information.
> If you want, I'll look for it.
>
--
Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
Chico, CA 95929
Tel. 530-898-5321
E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
