Re: patenting colimits?

[Toby Bartels <toby+categories@ugcs.caltech.edu>]

David Espinosa wrote in part:

>We seem to be more excited about patents than categories!  I guess opinions
>are cheaper than theorems...

Of course; it's a matter of convenience, not excitement.

>I'd say that citation is the academic form of currency.  Here's a
>dictionary:

>Academia: Academics get quite upset if you use their ideas without citing
>them.
>Industry: Companies sue you if you use their patents without paying them.

>Academia: You can publish improvements to someone's basic idea.
>Industry: You can patent improvements to someone's basic idea.

Here's what you missed:
Academia: Academics can freely use ideas if they cite them,
 and nobody minds if they come up with idea independently.
Industry: Companies must pay to use patented ideas,
 even if they come up with the idea indpendently,
 at whatever rate (possibly prohibitive) set by the owner of the patent.


--Toby


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