1. Metaphysics: Objective Reality
2. Epistemology: Reason
3. Ethics: Self-interest
4. Politics: Capitalism

Stephan, Your letter responding to Joe Hosteny's comments on Patent Trolls nicely states what I came to realize several years ago, namely, it is unclear that the U.S. Patent System, as currently implemented, necessarily benefits society as a whole. Certainly, it has benefited [Hosteny] and his [partners] and several of their prominent clients, and has put Marshall, Texas on the map; but you really have to wonder if the "tax" placed on industry by the System (and its use of juries or lay judges to make the call on often highly complex technical issues that the parties' technical experts cannot agree on) is really worth it. Of course, anyone can point to a few start-up companies that, arguably, owe their successes to their patent portfolios; but over the last 35 years, I have observed what would appear to be an ever increasing number of meritless patents, issued by an understaffed and talent-challenged PTO examining group, being used to extract tribute from whole industries. I have had this discussion with a number of clients, including Asian clients, who have been forced to accept our Patent System and the "taxes" it imposes on them as the cost of doing business in the USA. I wish I had the "answer". I don't.

The difficulty here is ensnaring third parties. I believe that to assume the third party is necessarily caught in this web of contracts, you have to presuppose information is ownable, which is question-begging. I explain this in detail in Against Intellectual Property, pp. 33-41. Let's take a concrete example. Suppose A sells his drug to B, with every contractual stipulation you can think of. B is not permitted to tell anyone about the drug, or let anyone see it or use it unless that person also signs a similar agreement, etc. Okay? fine. But what if B *violates the contract*? Let's say B erects a billboard on his lawn that displays the formula for the drug. B's neighbor, see, from his own house, sees the information on the billboard, and thus now knows how to make a drug that does certain useful things. So he starts making this drug, and selling it, cutting into A's market share. Yes, yes, A can sue B for damages. But can A sue C? On what grounds? What did C do? C never saw the drugs B possessed, never used them, never touched them. There is no possible argument that he was holding "A"'s property without A's consent, so he can be ensnared. In this case, C only got knowledge, and he got it by doing nothing illegal or rights violative; he merely peered out of his own window, and saw information displayed in a billboard on his neighbor's lawn.

Probably the thing that gives me greatest pause when it comes to rejecting intellectual property rights is that the physical product is less important than the idea behind it.

If Rand writes a novel, what is it exactly that she "produced." Is it only physical marks on paper? Or is it the story itself, which is not a physical thing? If it's the story itself, then no one else has a right to reproduce that story and sell it at a profit (without Rand's permission). If there are no intellectual property rights, then no one can be said to produce an idea. All he or she can be said to produce are physical objects. But this surely distorts the real meaning of "production."