Ben Franklin’s Greatest Invention

Special to FreeRepublic ^ | 9 Nov., 2005 | John Armor (Congressman Billybob)

[FormerACLUmember]

Excellent post. I even forgive the fact that the author is a lawyer.

[Andy from Beaverton]

North Korea had one patent in 1994. Isn't that about the time Loral Spacecraft was helping the Chinese?

[TotusTuus]

They don't yell,
They don't tell,
They don't swell,
And you leave them appreciative as hell!

(The short "modern" version.)

[perfect stranger]

**he would have a blog entitled “Poor Richard’s Almanack.”**

And there's no doubt that Silence Dogood, Martha Careful and Anthony Afterwit would all be very pleased at just such a development.

Thank you for another great article.

[Gennaro]

Congress is looking for ways to side-step intellectual property if the price is right. Some of them want to legitimize the exportation of drugs which is simply thievery of drug company patents.

[ntnychik]

Ben Franklin ping
...as I sit here in my bifocals (and pjs), being warmed by my Franklin stove, protected by my lightning rods...

[Mike-o-Matic]

  And as in the dark all Cats are grey, the Pleasure of corporal Enjoyment with an old Woman is at least equal, and frequently superior, every Knack being by Practice capable of Improvement.

ROFL! Go Ben, ya old dawg!

[FreeKeys]

I have trouble letting a million people die because of patents.

Several million people are alive today BECAUSE of patents and the incentives they provided for high-risk investments into R&D, plus maybe tens of millions who they lived to give birth to. Just the threat of patent revocation can scare away the funds for so many research projects that maybe the one that would have saved your child's life will never come to be. I'd sooner trust the scientists and doctors than the politicians (who'd be the ones making any final revocation decisions) any day anyway.

[Red Boots]

Thank you- I found it very interesting and just finished reading it to my 14 year old.

[Old Professer]

I believe he was the first to intuit that the charge in a Leyden jar remained on the glass container and proved it by statically charging the jar, dumping out its electrolyte and refilling to show that the cell remained fully charged until shorted to drain.