Why are patents transferable beyond the original creator?
This allows the creator to benefit in the case they can't personally exploit their work. If I invent some CPU fabrication process, I won't have the capital to invest to realize it and benefit - but maybe I can sell it to someone who can, which means the invention is actually used, and also I get some benefit.
why wouldn't a patent become public domain once the creator dies
What if the patent is a joint creation, or created while working for a company, i.e. the company owns it?
> This allows the creator to benefit in the case they can't personally exploit their work.
I wanted to be succinct for the title, but I'm more getting at why people other than the creator can sell a patent. Selling is still beneficial to the owner, however, if the company sells it after that then how's the benefiting the owner?
> What if the patent is a joint creation, or created while working for a company, i.e. the company owns it?
This is more of a side note to me, although, it looks like patents expire after 20 years. At least that's a number I've seen cited a couple places since posting the question.
With that said, maybe the pharmaceutical process is something worth looking into? I know the timer starts on their patents as soon as they submit it which long before they can ever produce it, but the point is that they're able to pay for all the research and trials involved in making the drug. Maybe there's some analogy for other applications (e.g. software patents)?
