Indeed. It seems to me that we overlook independent invention far too often. Jokes seem especially prone to independent invention to me. Maybe others differ.
If we as a society turn copyright/patents/trademarks/"intellectual property" into the ownership of ideas (as opposed to a limited monopoly to increase the public domain, which is what Thomas Jefferson intended), then we need to seriously consider independent invention. It happens all the time. Consider the safety pin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety_pin), nominally invented in 1849, but clear precusors exist from the Bronze age. If "Intellectual Property" exists, shouldn't we remunerate the heirs of the true Bronze Age inventors?
This is an ongoing problem: current US patent cases are very rarely about copying, and are mostly about independent invention: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1270160 We're clearly depriving some "Intellectual Property" owners of their rights and remuneration! To Arms!
If we as a society turn copyright/patents/trademarks/"intellectual property" into the ownership of ideas (as opposed to a limited monopoly to increase the public domain, which is what Thomas Jefferson intended), then we need to seriously consider independent invention. It happens all the time. Consider the safety pin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety_pin), nominally invented in 1849, but clear precusors exist from the Bronze age. If "Intellectual Property" exists, shouldn't we remunerate the heirs of the true Bronze Age inventors?
This is an ongoing problem: current US patent cases are very rarely about copying, and are mostly about independent invention: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1270160 We're clearly depriving some "Intellectual Property" owners of their rights and remuneration! To Arms!