http://timothyblee.com/2009/09/18/patents-and-the-coase-theorem/ A Blog by Timothy B. Lee Wed, 08 Feb 2012 02:37:33 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 http://timothyblee.com/2009/09/18/patents-and-the-coase-theorem/comment-page-1/#comment-3027 Kaleberg Mon, 21 Sep 2009 00:34:57 +0000 http://timothyblee.com/?p=918#comment-3027 I have to agree with you. There are often serious external costs to having low transaction costs. Consider the Byzantine Generals problem which flows from the low transaction cost of betrayal at the imperial level. Can you imagine the 19th century if someone had the sense and ability to patent every possible gearing ratio and then imposed a tax on just about any new piece of machinery? How different is it to patent genes or just genetic sequences? Why not take out patents on various networks of user interface, network and interaction components? I have to agree with you. There are often serious external costs to having low transaction costs. Consider the Byzantine Generals problem which flows from the low transaction cost of betrayal at the imperial level. Can you imagine the 19th century if someone had the sense and ability to patent every possible gearing ratio and then imposed a tax on just about any new piece of machinery? How different is it to patent genes or just genetic sequences? Why not take out patents on various networks of user interface, network and interaction components?

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