Get rid of patents.<p>The purpose of patents and copyright is to promote innovation and reward creators, and there are plenty of alternative possibilities for doing that. If patents and copyright laws are stifling innovation, for example in drug development, we should scrap them and look for a new model.<p>Dean Baker has written a lot about this and has proposed a public bounty purse for useful innovations. He would reward an organization that developed a cure for malaria with several billion dollars, and there would be another reward system for creative work, for unexpected innovations that benefited society, etc.<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;cepr.net&#x2F;blogs&#x2F;beat-the-press&#x2F;more-thoughts-on-patents-and-copyrights" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;cepr.net&#x2F;blogs&#x2F;beat-the-press&#x2F;more-thoughts-on-patent...</a><p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;cepr.net&#x2F;publications&#x2F;reports&#x2F;financing-drug-research-what-are-the-issues" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;cepr.net&#x2F;publications&#x2F;reports&#x2F;financing-drug-research...</a>