Re: [rp-ml] FYI

On 06/07/11 17:12, G. Sachs wrote:

> On a side note, the proposed changes to U.S. patent law (making it
> more like European patent law), will surely have a deleterious effect
> on individual creativity and invention in the future and further erode

IANAL, but in fact European patent law is much more favourable in this
regard than American. In Europe any private individual can make any
patented object for their own use as long as it is not for gain;
anyone (individual or company) can also make any patented object for
the purpose of researching improvements in it. Neither of these is
currently allowed in the US.

The former right prompted me to suggest some time ago that our health
service should not buy any patented drugs for patients, but instead
they should invest the money in micro-fluidic drug synthesisers that
would be given out on loan so patients could make their own...

> the desire of most individuals to do anything on their own. How many
> people in Europe make their own replacement parts, or anything on
> their own, for that matter?

All over Europe people are running RepRap Masterclasses like this one...

http://www.emakershop.com/blog/309-2

...that we ran last weekend. There is a long and growing backlog of
people who want to attend. :-)

I realise that I have a slightly special perspective, but almost
everyone I know in this country (UK), and in places like France and
Germany, makes things as a hobby.

Best wishes

Adrian

Dr Adrian Bowyer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Bowyer
http://reprap.org
Received on Wed Jul 06 19:46:51 2011