daniel_newhousePatents are a government granted monopoly. A patent prevents any other company from using any proprietary invention when making their products. But do patents ever really belong to the institution you work for? If the CEO or the chairman of the board of directors moves to another company, do patents move with him? If I understand employment agreements properly the patents are supposed to belong to the company you work for.
Now, what’s wrong with preventing other companies from using your propietary patented material? What if someone who generates the patented material moves from one company to another? They can’t use it at the new company. This reduces their individual value on the job marketplace. You may look at a resume of someone who is reponsible for patents and be impressed. But what good does it do them to get a new job and not
be able to use their old inventions?
I say all patents go anonymous GPU!
Also, copyright. I say, if you copy something (transcribe in techno-can) from one employer to the next you have violated the law. If you remember it, it’s fair game.