Patent Morality | The Daily Dialectic

Patent Morality

Synopsis:
On Many occasions there have been news articles about General Electrics (GE) light bulb that has been on for over a century. One article stated, “Made by the Shelby Electric Co. of Ohio, it's been shining bright, without a flicker, at the town's firehouse since 1901.”

Throughout history, technological innovations have brought humans from cave dwellers to city dwellers. As one innovation is achieved, a new necessity has the opportunity to arise. JP Morgan took an opportunity in the year 1889, and established Edison Electric Company to capitalize on the growing necessity of consumer energy. Their business tactics have perceivably involved planned obsolescence, and the use of patents to eliminate viable competition. Patent law dictates the flow of innovation. hypothetically, if an entity patents a technology that can benefit mankind with the intention of furthering its development then innovation flows. If another entity patents that same technology with the intention of halting its development to eliminate competition, then innovation has been slowed.

On Many occasions there have been news articles about General Electrics (GE) light bulb that has been on for over a century. One article stated, “Made by the Shelby Electric Co. of Ohio, it's been shining bright, without a flicker, at the town's firehouse since 1901.”, the lifespan of this bulb has surpassed 1,000,000 hours. The most common modern bulbs are incandescent, which have a lifespan of 1000 hours. How could this kind of regression in longevity of a product happen over the course of a century? Obviously planned obsolescence has been established as part of its business model. In 1939 International GE was a partner with Phoebus, reportedly “Phoebus expended considerable technical effort into engineering a shorter-lived lightbulb.”(2). This tactic is used with the assistance of patents to restrain competition from producing the same technology with a larger life span.

GE has had a long history of patent immorality, the feud between Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison was the first notable instance. GE, “has actively used its patent on variable speed wind turbines to block Enercon … and Mitsubishi… from entering the American wind market” (3). This abuse of patent law in the energy sector has a large negative impact on the ecosystem. In the Unites States, “a utility patent is generally granted for 20 years from the date the patent application is filed”. After which, the patent is likely to become obsolete upon its release into public domain, Leaving the usefulness of innovation to be undercut by its profitability.

Any aspiring engineer in the applied sciences should be aware of to whom and for what purpose they are applying their skills. GE is one of many companies who have used these immoral business practices to further their companies well-being, mainly to the detriment of all else.

Ethics and morality standards of pupils of sciences and engineering shape the world for future generations.

Sources:

1) ABC NEWS, “Bulb Still Burning After 100-Plus Years as GE Brings Business Back to US”
http://abcnews.go.com

2) Markus Krajewski, “The Great Lightbulb Conspiracy”
http://spectrum.ieee.org/geek-life/history/the-great-lightbulb-conspiracy (accessed july 19, 2016)

3) Benjamin K. Sovacool, The Dirty Energy Dilemma: What's Blocking Clean Power in the United States. Greenwood publishing group, 2008.

4) “Electricity usage of an Incandescent Light Bulb”
http://energyusecalculator.com/electricity_incandescent.htm