Haman Nature: None of us hate patent trolls nearly enough. In fact, all of IP has serious flaws that need fixing – or abolishing

Related:

• The Problem with Intellectual Property
• Patent Trolls, Bad Patents, and Incompetent Examiners are Not the Problem

Adam Haman of Haman Nature: None of us hate patent trolls nearly enough. In fact, all of IP has serious flaws that need fixing – or abolishing.

Jan. 26, 2026

I used to think Intellectual Property (IP) was valid. Why wouldn’t I? After all, my business school insisted patents were vitally necessary to incentivize production and innovation. Even Ayn Rand, my gateway to libertarianism, insisted IP was a moral necessity, saying:

Heck yeah! What could be more just!

Except, the arbitrariness of the time length for patent and copyright always seemed “off” to me, as well as some of the IP lawsuits I’d see that seemed crony-ish rather than righteous.

Then Stephan Kinsella’s book Against Intellectual Property convinced me that Ayn Rand was wrong. It’s very powerful, especially when read in tandem with Boldrin and Levine’s book Against Intellectual Monopoly.

The first is libertarian property rights theory. The second is empirical research. I read them back-to-back and was finally convinced that IP is immoral AND unnecessary for innovation.

In fact, in far too many cases, IP actively retards innovation.

You can get a close-up view of how unjust and economically destructive IP can be by watching this fascinating video called The Patent Scam.

It’s really good. Don’t be turned off by the kitchy opening skit, because this video will shock and horrify you. Watch the whole thing and you’ll see just how insane the US patent system really is.

But even if our system wasn’t so bonkers, IP is inherently flawed. It’s a complete wrong turn and dead end as an intellectual and legal concept. IP doesn’t protect property rights, it violates property rights.

I won’t try to totally change your mind on IP here, but I highly encourage these two very short books. But before that, again, check out this heartbreaking, enraging, and illuminating video about patent trolls and how destructive they are.

Even if you disagree with me (and the brilliant legal theorist Stephan Kinsella) you will easily see that the way the current IP system “works” is massively corrupt, cruel, and destructive.

If you can’t watch the whole thing for some reason, at least skip forward to 1:04:00 where the documentary shows the ghost-town of “businesses” and crony law shops that are behind so much patent trolling in the US.

But again, I recommend you watch the whole thing to see the full scope of the horror that is a patent troll operation. You’ll never think of patents the same way again. All too often, patents wrecks the lives of the most innovative and productive people among us.

And patents have always been corrupt. The concept began as a monopoly granted by the king to favored cronies. We should never have adopted it in the US system, and the quicker we correct course, the better off we’ll be.

So sez me, anyway.

Naturally,

Adam