# A 16th-century Dutchman can tell us everything we need to know about GMO patents - Host: [grist.org](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/hosts/grist.org/) - Saved: November 29, 2013 (2013-11-29T13:00:33Z) - Record: https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/31cde7d7644b/ - JSON: https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/31cde7d7644b.json ## From the page (probably an excerpt, not Jamie's words) Theyre a big part of it, but, patents arent intrinsically bad, Jefferson said. The whole point of the patent system was to get people to share their secrets. The very word patent comes from the Latin patere: to lay open. You tell the world how to make your invention, and in return, the people who use it have to work out a deal with you. If someone uses your invention without your permission, you can sue them but only for a while, and only in the country where you have the patents. ## Facts - Kind: [Page](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/kinds/page/) ## Saved the same week - [TECHdotMN — Meet a Minnesota CTO: Jamie Thingelstad](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/b6d8a81bca01/) (tech.mn, November 27, 2013) - [TV Is Dying, And Here Are The Stats From The US That Prove It](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/bd00f5d5b818/) (businessinsider.com.au, November 29, 2013) ## Elsewhere - Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://grist.org/food/a-16th-century-dutchman-can-tell-us-everything-we-need-to-know-about-gmo-patents/