this post was submitted on 14 Feb 2024
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Maybe controversial opinion: People who can't afford to produce the product/service or can't pay for filing the patent should not be able to hold the patent. It's better if others have a chance of getting the same idea and actually following through on it.
Is it fair? I don't care. IMO It's better for society if the good ideas are actually carried out instead of sitting untouched in a patent office because the holder either can't or won't actually use the idea.
But once they have the patent they can license it to others, this denies them the chance. The point being that the idea may die with the person rather then ever being known in the first place if filing is too big a burden.
My understanding is you have to regularly pay to keep a patent valid until expiry, but I could be mistaken. Varies by country I'm sure.
I agree with your premise that it's better that someone with intent use it, but it's not that black and white.
You have different fees related to bringing the patent to issuance that depend on the quality of the application (many patents just never issue) and that can rack up considerably. Then you have maintenance fees every few years after issuance that increase exponentially. In the US.