[LINK] Is it unethical to infringe a patent?

[Deus Ex Machina]

Brendan Scott [brendansweb at optusnet.com.au] wrote:
> So Vic, you're in the knowingly-is-essential camp then?   

yes and no. you are technically infringing even if you dont know, but
youll probably either never find out, or receive a warning in which case
you do know.  we dont develop anything for general release, so in the
case of development for 3rd parties, we keep no rights and we have
liability insurance. so the issue is the 3rd parties.   patent infringement
I imagine are first dealt with by a cease and desist, at which point you
either do or negotiate a licence deal or go to court and fight it out.

prudent companies will register novel developments anyway at which point
they may discover any relevant patents. companies that choose not to do searches or
not to protect any novelty are certainly not doing themselves any favors.

ethics is rather relative, so your ethical status can be quite different
to someone elses view of your ethical status, depending on the
availlable information of both parties.  but once you share the same
information then your ethical status changes based on how you deal with
your new position. an perceived ethical position might not be legal,
because you are lacking information even though you may have taken
reasonable steps to get it.

I can see that the situation is synonymous with large chunks of unfenced
land. if you know that the owners are not goint to be happy with you
taking shortcuts across their land then the ethical thing to do is to
take reasonable steps to inform yourself as to where the boundaries are.
different people in different circumstance will have different views on
what is and isnt reasonable. if you need to take someone to hospital
urgently you are not going to go to city hall first and check land titles,
it becomes a value call rather then an ethics issue.

most people rather not lie, but when an innocent persons life hangs in the balance
then lying can be the right thing to do, the ethics are subordinate to the
values involved.

Vic