The concept of Intellectual Property is a bit abstract. How can someone actually own something that doesn't exist in real time and space. I mean you can't really hold an idea in your hands and you can't see a thought, so how can someone own them. Well its been done. According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, intellectual property is, "It is imagination made real. It is the ownership of dream, an idea, an improvement, an emotion that we can touch, see, hear, and feel. It is an asset just like your home, your car, or your bank account. Just like other kinds of property, intellectual property needs to be protected from unauthorized use."
This idea makes since for those types of jobs that involve innovation and constantly trying to come up with new things, such as an inventor or author. I mean what if someone had stolen J.K. Rowling's idea, they would now be the richest person in England. I think the part that troubles me is how someone proves that it was their idea originally, or is it just based on who patents the idea first? It is just a scary thought that it would be that easy to loose an idea, or I suppose i should say have an idea stolen from you. It almost discourages me from even considering a career choice that would have that possibility.
This is not something that I have ever really put much thought into but your perspective was interesting and made me also question if I would ever want to create or invent something in fear that it could get "stolen". This idea is definitely abstract and could be argued many ways.
ReplyDeleteI have heard of this and to me it makes me really angry that someone can steal my idea because while they may have thought of it some time ago and I never even knew that it was even conceived, I create it and they hold the patent on it. It’s like all your hard work was just wasted, but I understand that it was also my fault for not doing my research properly and finding out that it was patented before I created it that way, or even contacting the person to join forces with them to create the item.
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