Why are patents transferable beyond the original creator? Shouldn't they only benefit the person who created it? What claim does some arbitrary company dozens of sales down the line have to that patent other than that they have a large amount of money/clout?<p>I can understand someone has an idea but lacks the resources to substantiate their vision and therefore sells it to someone who can, but even then, why can't they just license it?<p>And, in a similar vein, why wouldn't a patent become public domain once the creator dies as there's no way for them to benefit from it after that (metaphysics aside). Pharmaceutical patents have an end point so I don't see why this isn't plausible.
<p><pre><code> Why are patents transferable beyond the original creator?</code></pre>
This allows the creator to benefit in the case they can't personally exploit their work. If I invent some CPU fabrication process, I won't have the capital to invest to realize it and benefit - but maybe I can sell it to someone who can, which means the invention is actually used, and also I get some benefit.<p><pre><code> why wouldn't a patent become public domain once the creator dies</code></pre>
What if the patent is a joint creation, or created while working for a company, i.e. the company owns it?
> why wouldn't a patent become public domain once the creator dies<p>Because there'd be a financial incentive to kill patent holders?<p>If you think that's far-fetched, consider that some organisations are quite happy to torture their employees with silicosis if it means they can make faded jeans cheaply (Google it).<p>(On a related note, abolish patents!)
There are tax, liability, and business issues. Trust me it's a mess especially when you try to minimize the tax liability, you can do all sorts of crazy crap.