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The world's first colour e-ink monitor is essentially a 25-inch Kindle (www.creativebloq.com)
submitted 3 years ago by to c/technology@lemmy.ml
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[–] 6 points 3 years ago (3 children)

I don't think it really applies to patent holders. The company doesn't make the displays -- they license their patent to the companies that make the displays. The licensing cost is what causes the displays to remain expensive, but I'm not sure this counts as a monopoly. I'm not a lawyer, but it seems like patent holders can do pretty much what they like with the patent (and indeed, that kind of seems like the whole point of a patent).

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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago (2 children)

    Sounds like Patents need to be changed then. Especially for variations of normal technology. Like, someone should not be able to patent a new variation of an OLED display. But, if you create a NEW product (E.x something that literally doesn't exist yet that creates a new market) then you can patent that. And, patents should expire in 3 years, hard limitation.

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  • [–] 4 points 3 years ago

    Well, those products didn't exist when they made eink displays. The whole point of a patent is to grant a temporary monopoly in exchange for the patent holder making details of the invention public. The patent holder gets a monopoly on producing and selling that thing so they can recoup their investment, and competitors can make derivatives after the patent period.

    If a product already exists, you can't patent it because it falls under the "prior art" restriction.

    That said, I absolutely agree that patents should have a much shorter duration. I think the right number is somewhere in the 5-7 year range, but others certainly have different opinions. What I'd like is an actual, national discussion about it instead of just random ranting on social media.

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