There are widespread complaints today that the “patent system is broken” and that the “smartphone wars” and “patent trolls” are killing innovation. Yet patented innovation has revolutionized our lives today—tablet computers, smartphones and antiviral drugs are just a few of these modern marvels. How to make sense of this contradiction? This talk by law professor Adam Mossoff answers this question and highlights how objectivity in one’s life requires both knowing the right facts and using a rational method in thinking about these facts.
Recorded live on June 29, 2014, at Objectivist Summer Conference 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Made available by The Ayn Rand Institute.