Unsurprising surprises
More on the life and death of Chappe, from a 1929 ITT Journal of Electrical Communication:

The continual stress imposed by the new project severely tried Chappe. Nor was it only troubles arising from the work that undid him. In 1797 the usual cruel annoyances to which inventors are subjected by those who claim to have anticipated a successful device, had a disastrous mental effect upon him. He took up the challenge of those who claimed priority. This action was followed by the customary exchange of letters of incrimination and revenge. Then came the end. He had gone to study upon the terrain emplacements for further stations on the line to Lyons. He became restless and irritable and manifested symptoms of hysteria. At the completion of the work he returned to Paris, declaring that an attempt had been made to poison him in a village near Lyons. Finally he fell into a state of melancholy that no distraction could cure. On January 23, 1805, in a garden, his friends found his body at the bottom of a well.

In 1929 the 'cruel annoyances' were familiar. The ITT author knew that the sole purpose of patents is to STOP innovation and KILL inventors. He was ruefully unsurprised to find the same situation in 1797. Nothing has changed. Patents still serve to halt and impoverish real inventors.

Well, how about the Soviet system? We know that the USSR treated scientists better. They were trained properly, and they were given tremendous respect and comparative freedom to think and work.

Did inventors get similar treatment? The patent situation is unfamiliar. Fortunately I found a 1973 US trade document aimed at increasing trade with Russia:

By facilitating imports of Soviet machinery and industrial products, the United States might reap an unexpected benefit from expanded trade ties with the Soviet Union, namely, the acquisition of new Soviet technology in a few industrial sectors. In certain high-priority industries, the Soviet Union has devoted considerable resources to research and development. Some Soviet industries have made important technological innovations which could prove very valuable to US firms. The steel and aluminum industries and certain mining industries are examples of US sectors which could benefit from such an exchange of technology.

As with the 1968 Commerce dept document I cited earlier, our government knew about Russian superiority even while it was telling us the opposite. Our government knew that Russia had kept its own industries and developed its own skills while we were offshoring electronics, killing metals and mining with EPA rules, and dumbing down students.

Specifically on patents:

Soviet patent law, however, is quite different from Western laws. Under Soviet law, an inventor is given the option of receiving a patent or an inventor's certificate for his innovation. The foreign inventor who submits an application to the Soviet Union is given the same choice.

The certificate gives the inventor recognition for his achievement and assures him of a predetermined financial reward, but vests in the state all rights to use, develop, and exploit the invention.

The Soviet patent is similar to its Western counterpart; the patentee gains the right to exploit his invention for his own personal profit, up to a ceiling established by law. As an innovation by a Soviet citizen can generally be exploited only by a state enterprise, the incentive to own a patent is reduced. Moreover, legal requirements for obtaining a patent and various tax benefits and compensation advantages for certificate holders induce most Soviet inventors to apply for certificates.

If we had the choice, sane and sensible inventors would also go for the certificate. A guaranteed payout, even if small, is VASTLY BETTER than going deep into debt for lawyers and development costs, only to watch a giant corporation snatch the invention away.

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I got curious to see if Ebay had any of those certificates. Only a couple:



Looks impressive. I widened the search and found more interesting evidence of the respect given to science students, even in vocational schools. Ebay is packed with badges like this:



And the same search turned up more unsurprising evidence of OUR attitude toward Russian invention and sanity:



A patch worn by the "Aggressors" army in some sort of war game.

Nuff said.

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Later followup: I bought one of those Inventor Certificates.

Labels: Morsenet of Things, Natural law = Soviet law

  ¶ 2:26 PM