Z:gnu-www-ja-stallman-mec-india--e5f9d2-Now, you have to realize that/en

Now, you have to realize that the ostensible purpose of the patent system is to promote progress. This is something that is often forgotten because the companies that benefit from patents like to distract you from it. They like to give you the idea that patents exist because they deserve special treatment. But this is not what the patent system says. The patent system says: the goal is to promote progress for society, by encouraging certain behavior like publishing new ideas; and after a certain &mdash; originally that was fairly short &mdash; time, everyone could use them.