Even in the
case of physical goods, no one has a right to a certain market value. If
I steal your car, your property rights are violated. If a manufacturer
designs a slew of new cars that make yours far less valued in the
market, your rights are not violated, because you never had a right to a
given resale value.
Many people argue that the real need for IP law arises when we’re
talking about companies making multibillion dollar investments in
R&D, not merely five-figure gardens. What incentive is there to
pursue such costly innovations with no promise of reward for the effort?
There are several problems with this analysis. First, even with current
IP laws, there is no guarantee of profit. How many billions of R&D
dollars are spent on projects that end up yielding no return? Consumers
are fickle, and IP doesn’t guarantee they’ll like your product, no
matter how much you spend on research.
-Issac Morehouse
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