Senator Coons holding a press conference – Public Domain

Last week, Delaware Senator Chris Coons, the chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, made an assertion about the nature of patents that is flat out wrong. Senator Coons said:

“OUR FOUNDING FATHERS MADE IT CLEAR THAT INVENTORS SHOULD HAVE EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS TO THEIR INVENTIONS. IN OTHER WORDS, THE CONSTITUTION IN ITS SCRIPT GUARANTEES TO INVENTORS THE ABILITY TO PREVENT OTHERS FROM USING OR SELLING THEIR INVENTIONS WITHOUT THEIR PERMISSION.”

This assertion is directly at odds with what the constitution explicitly says. The constitution absolutely does not provide any guarantees to inventors about exclusive use of their inventions. The wording that provides the basis for government-granted patent and copyright monopolies can be found in Article 1, Section 8, where the Constitution lays out the powers of Congress.

“The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be........

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