A 16th-century Dutchman can tell us everything we need to know about GMO patents
grist.org/food/a-16th-century-dutchman-can-tell-us-everything-we-need-to-know-about-gmo-patents
From the page
Saved with the link. Notes from 2007 to 2016 are mostly the page's own words, so this is probably an excerpt.
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.