I&#x27;m not going to argue for the continued existence of patents or intellectual property.<p>In the case of cancer research, you sold your time to your employer for a fixed amount of money (maybe you had equity, but it doesn&#x27;t sound like it). That was the end of the transaction for you. The investor took a risk and was rewarded for it, all within the current system, which is not a free society.<p>When you spend money on a consumer good, you&#x27;re going to choose the product that works best for you, given your budget. For the same money, you will not choose a product you deem to be inferior. Thus, you reward the maker of that product with your dollars because they solve the problem better than the maker of the inferior product.<p>As for &quot;appropriation of productivity,&quot; if you&#x27;re alluding to the workers vs capitalists struggle from Marx, then I can&#x27;t help you. I will simply point out that nobody in a free society is <i>compelled</i> to work for another. Thus, all salaries &#x2F; wages &#x2F; employment agreements are entered into voluntarily. There is no appropriation: each voluntary employee knows the terms of employment and agrees to them.