Do you think there's a patent office in Khorvaire?

[Rel]

A player in my Eberron campaign had an idea and was wondering if he could patent it. Given the sort of pseudo-industrial-revolution setting for Eberron, do you think the concept of a patent office would have developed?

I'm sort of leaning towards "no" since a lot of the "industrialization" of Eberron is due to magic, specifically the Dragonmarked Houses. Since they are inherently exclusive already then I figure there hasn't been a lot of need for this sort of regulation.

Thoughts?

 

[Darkness]

I think that'd be a good question to ask Keith Baker.

 

[Rel]

I think that'd be a good question to ask Keith Baker.

That would of course require that I sign up for the Wizards boards. As I'm unwilling to do so I remain content with the most excellent and well thought out opinions of ENWorlders such as yourself, Darkness.

 

[Doug McCrae]

There was but it got closed on the grounds that everything that could be invented had been.

 

[darkelfo]

I think a patent system could be very interesting if that is your bag. In the middle ages, Letters Patent were often issued to inventors by countries to incentivize them to move into their land and bring technology with them. The basic monopoly in exchange for technology disclosure deal still works today.

Add magic and it gets interesting. I recall a faerun AD&D spell (wizard mark? arcane mark?) which had disastrous results if you attempted to copy a wizard's mark. While that speaks more to the trademark world than to patent, its fodder for thought in the patent world.

Given its emphasis on artificers and amazing technology, a patent system might be tenable in Ebberron. On the other hand, most fantasy worlds seem to operate on a trade secret basis where wizards keep their secrets secret to horde power for themselves. One variant is the "geek cred" theory where wizards get station in life by disclosing new and amazing spells and technologies.

Check out the Inspired Inventor PrC in Steam and Steal. At level three they get a patron that funds their research, but controls the release of information learned. Such a patronage system is fodder for lots of cool plot hooks. Picture the late night knock on the door from the secret patron's agent. A large bag of gold, a deadline to craft a new construct or weapon and an adventure to gather the parts or ingredients is a recipe for lots of fun and danger.

As long as its FUN, why not?

 

[Darkness]

That would of course require that I sign up for the Wizards boards. As I'm unwilling to do so I remain content with the most excellent and well thought out opinions of ENWorlders such as yourself, Darkness.

Very well - I think there isn't such a thing, but it's not exactly a well-researched position on my part.

 

[Crothian]

what's the idea he wants to patent?

 

[Cintra]

I tend to think there isn't a patent office in Khorvaire. That's part of the reason that stealing inventions (like creation patterns) from others can be so valuable - because there's no way to enforce ownership of the idea behind the invention.

If you did allow it, it wouldn't be national and international laws that supported it. Instead, it would probably be House Cannith itself, possibly with some interaction with House Sivis for documenting the ownership of the patent. But with House Cannith split into three factions, you'd still only have enforcement, at best, at the discretion of whichever House Cannith faction is locally dominant.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

I agree with you on the influence of the dragonmarked houses making patent offices irrelevant. Each individual house may have some form of repository of information, but there would be no centralized office available to the public or beholden to the government.

 

[Wormwood]

Tangent: If you invent a spell, can you copyright it?