zlacker

In 1956 AT&T opened all of it's patents to everyone without royalties to settle an antitrust suit, including the transistor.

http://explodingthephone.com/docs/dbx1036.pdf

>>tcas+(OP)
Didn't know that! That turned out well. To the innovators go the spoils.

>>gdilla+A1
The opposite, actually. This is about giving the spoils to everyone who didn't invent the transistor.

>>sp332+83
the spoils to everyone who innovated on the transistor.

>>gohrt+T5
Not necessarily, unless they also got patents on their innovations.

>>gohrt+T5
That's what I meant. THose that generated the most value on the transistor, got the spoils - eg Fairchild, Intel, etc

>>sp332+m9
You're aware that it's possible to make money on an invention without patenting it. First to market advantage, a foothold in the market, continuing brand recognition as the go-to source for that product, a head start on the next round of innovation, increased sales across the industry as the product becomes more valuable to customers, increased sales of complementary products and services, etc.

>>tcas+(OP)
That was a calculation, assuming that they would loose more in the suit than in opening up it's patents, this isn't the same at all, though it is a direct response to the question.

>>tcas+(OP)
Core element there being "to settle an anti-trust suit".

It's helpful to keep in mind that AT&T operated under anti-trust watch from 1917 through 1984, with the 1950s action being among the most significant.

It was also responsible for keeping AT&T out of the computing market, which meant that when AT&T created an operating system, it had something it couldn't sell, so it gave it away.

You may have heard of this, it was called "UNIX".

>>Anthon+ii
Or just keeping it a trade secret, like WD-40.