Write a catchy song or trashy novel and you can get copyright protection for over a century. Design something truly useful to humanity, and you currently get patent protection for ~20 years. (International laws vary a bit on this.) I personally think societies are rewarding the wrong behavior, but those are the rules of the game. Don't like it? Write bad novels instead of inventing useful things!
Originally Posted by
Schwinnsta
At what point do Brompton's patents expire?
The
basic Brompton U.S. patent expired
some seventeen years ago. In light of that, comments in the above linked page about 'unlicensed Brompton copies' are naive at best. The design has long since passed into the public domain. Sorry - I don't make the rules - if I got to, they'd be different!
A fellow who really knew his stuff was the late Dr. Alex Moulton. Before his original patents expired, he came out with the Mk. III models. Before those patents expired, he came out with the AM series. Before those patents expired, he came out with the NS series. By continuing to innovate, he made sure potential competitors could at best only copy his 'old' work.
PS - The Brompton actually owes a lot to Moulton's Mk. III Marathon design, although
AFAIK Mr. Ritchie has never acknowledged that.