Blog #3: Should we abolish the patent system?

Patent Reform, System Should Be Abolished, Fed Economists Say

Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/05/patent-reform-economists_n_2623537.html

This article discusses an argument proposed by two economists, Michele Bodrin and David Levine, in which the entire patent system would be abolished in order to encourage development and innovation. Bodrin and Levine argue that with all the new patents and patent laws it is almost impossible for any company, specifically technology to not violate one of these laws. Companies are then discouraged from producing new products since it will just end up causing them money through lawsuits. What makes this issue increasingly worse is that many of these patents are vague and allow companies to sue by leaving them up to interpretation. Bodrin and Levine continued to say that these patents not only hurt our technology but our health as well since they drastically increase the cost of developing new drugs for the overall population.

I understand the points these economists are making and I agree that patent law needs to be reformed, but not completely done away with. We have recently heard about several different cases, specifically in between Samsung and Apple where Samsung violated an Apple patent because they used rounded corners on their phones. To me that is ridiculous because a patent shouldn't force a company into only one other alternative which would be a straight-edged phone. And what if there is a patent on that as well? Is Samsung completely out of luck in being able to create phones then? Specific situations like this are ridiculous and could be mitigated by more regulation and oversight. However, patents still serve a very necessary function in that they do fuel innovation because companies know what they create will be protected by law and not just copied and mass produced. Overall, the patent system needs work but is still very necessary to our country's innovation.