Case Against Patents

Economists Call for Abolishing US Patents

The paper: http://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/jep.27.1.3

Economists call for abolishing US Patents: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/05/patent-reform-economists_n_2623537.html

Cornish Steam Engine Case

The Cornish engine appears to the be the first case of open source hardware and shows some data on innovation rates in the presence and absence of patents.

http://www.thefreemanonline.org/features/do-patents-encourage-or-hinder-innovation-the-case-of-the-steam-engine/

http://p2pfoundation.net/Open_Innovation_in_the_18th_Century_Cornish_Tin_Mines