Why Intellectual Property is Illegitimate
Revisiting this topic because it’s an interesting one to talk about since it’s something that both left and right ideologies support or oppose for various reasons.
First, I’ll explain how intellectual property (IP) is fundamentally different from physical property. Property laws exist to resolve disputes over scarce resources( Im using scare to mean something that cannot be used to achieve two alternative goals simultaneously). You and I cannot both drive the same car simultaneously to two different locations, and so cars are scarce. If a dispute like this arrises, you need an ownership ethic to determine whose use is preferred. But ideas are not scarce in this way. I can tell you about the car, and we can both simultaneously think about driving it without depriving the other of anything.
This fundamental difference between the two leads to contradictions when both are upheld legally in the same category. Say someone has a patent on the idea of building an engine. This gives them partial ownership over others physical property. If Person A wants to take their own things and try to build an engine, Person B’s claim over the idea of it overrides A’s ownership of his own property.
Regardless of the philosophy behind it, some support it because they believe it protects inventors or incentives innovation. While I’m sure there’s some cases where this is true, in general it doesn’t achieve either goal.
Patent abuse is one of the main ways large companies eliminate competition. large companies use litigation to drain resources from competitors, even if they know they’ dont have a legitimate claim. Smartphone companies have wasted billions on this. Pharmaceutical companies are notorious for “evergreening” where they continually make small modifications to their patent to extend its lifespan so they can delay the competition. And by delaying the competition, they lose their incentive to continue innovating. The man who patented the steam engine prevented anyone from improving or copying it for years while refusing to innovate further. American planes were much worse than Europeans at the beginning of aviation due to the Wright brothers patent.
IP is both contradictory to the concept of ownership, and harmful to consumers. It acts as a form of temporary monopoly, slowing the overall rate of innovation and allowing companies to get away with ridiculous prices due to their claim over the competitions physical property granted by IP law. That is why IP is an illegitimate form of property and should be opposed by all.