without having to pay the costs themselves. As a result, the innovative company will bear the much higher

costs of the R&D and will enjoy at best only a small, temporary advantage over the competition.

Many inventors over the years have discovered that their inventions brought them less profit than they might

have reasonably expected.

• Eli Whitney (1765–1825) invented the cotton gin, but then southern cotton planters built their own seed-

separating devices with a few minor changes in Whitney’s design. When Whitney sued, he found that the

courts in southern states would not uphold his patent rights.

• Thomas Edison (1847–1931) still holds the record for most patents granted to an individual. His first

invention was an automatic vote counter, and despite the social benefits, he could not find a government

that wanted to buy it.

• Gordon Gould came up with the idea behind the laser in 1957. He put off applying for a patent and, by the
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