Bob Higgins <[email protected]> wrote: Prior to patent rights granted by the government, new technology was > protected by trade secret - tell no one. Nothing was shared and technology > advancement was slow. >
I do not know what era you have in mind. In the U.S., we have had patents all along, even before independence. The patent system is written into the Constitution. With any important technology, trade secrets never work for long. Competitors reverse engineer the machine, or they hire employees who know how it is made. Still, patents are a better way to ensure rapid progress -- to everyone's benefit. Lincoln was the only president to hold a patent. He thought a lot about patents and technology. Here are some quotes from him, most famously: "The patent system . . . added the fuel of interest to the fire of genius in the discovery and production of new and useful things." https://todayinsci.com/L/Lincoln_Abraham/LincolnAbraham-Quotations.htm - Jed
