Sort of a Tormek vs Jet question

[Michael Gibbons]

While reading the threads about the Tormek vs Jet sharpeners, something troubled me. Jet decided to come out with the clone of the Tormek which I believed happened after the patent expired. What I'm wondering is why patents are limited to so many years yet copyrighted material is protected forever. Seems both are "intelectual property", so why would they be treated differently? I believe Tormek should get paid a royalty for Jet just copying the unit. What do you folks think?


.....Mike

[Dan Lyke]

It is of this question that many many electrons have been used. There's lots of debate over the terms and legitimacy of both patents and copyrights in the computer world, and I'm still not sure where I fall on this.

The issue I see with patents, and the terms on patents already, is that so many patent developments are things that'd pretty much happen anyway in the normal course of product development, but if you get to the patent office a day earlier than I do then you've got monopoly rights to that development for the term of the patent.

For some things, maybe this is legitimate. And perhaps the general value of allowing only one company to develop a market, freeing them from early competition, is worthy. On the far side, we see some of the silliness of business method or various computer programming patents, where a patent is only being pursued for reasons of legal harrassment, not because that idea is going to be developed into a product.

Can you, for instance, say that between 1901 and 1918 nobody else would have independently come up with the idea for cross-threaded rods on rotating nuts for clamps (Patent number: 687836, Hans Jorgensen)? Maybe, maybe not, but if we allowed the same term for patents as for copyrights, can you say that that wouldn't have happened 'til after WWII? Unlikely.

As for the Tormek versus Jet question, I've no claims on the specifics but I'd bet that if Tormek has had their 17 (or 25, depending on when they got the patent) years of development they've probably got a better manufacturing process and better quality production line worked out. If not, then what have they been doing with the intervening years?

Or maybe we need something intervening in between copyright and patent?