Patent Policy, Technological Innovation, and Government Contracts: A Selective Critique

In traditional economics, the patent system has rested on a twofold justification: 1) The award of a temporary monopoly to the creator of an invention will induce investment in inventive activity; 2) Given such a temporary monopoly, the inventor will make his invention public knowledge. Numerous writers have treated the first assertion, and a few have considered the second. But there is also a general welfare question to be considered: Is society better off with a patent system than without one