He said, “Dr. Nagle, will you tell our audience just what your concept of a satisfactory patent system is?”
“A patent system,” said Mart, “is intended to be a form of remuneration to a discoverer in return for the use of his work. In the case of —”
“Well, now, just a moment, Dr. Nagle. The reward offered by a patent is in the nature of a monopoly, and that is the crux of our present problem. You cannot say that it would be justifiable to grant a person a monopoly on just any kind of a discovery because he happened to be the first to discover it.”
“I did not use the word monopoly,” said Mart. “I said remuneration. In the case of —”
“Well, now, Dr. Nagle. You say remuneration. All right, we’ll use the word remuneration. But it is obvious at once that if you wish to place the magnitude of the remuneration in direct proportion to the magnitude of the discovery, there rapidly appears a point at which it is ridiculous to allow a single individual to control or realize the rewards of certain discoveries which will be of the utmost magnitude. Do you not agree that this is so, Dr. Nagle?”
Mart shrugged and smiled and said nothing. He glanced at the watch on his wrist, hoping he had not misestimated the time at his disposal.
Baird hesitated, waiting for Mart to make a statement which could be interrupted and shouted down. But Mart remained silent.
“Will you tell our audience, then, exactly how you view your own present, controversial discoveries in the light of our present Patent System?”
“I will,” said Mart quietly, “if you will allow me to finish my statements without interrupting before I am through. If I am interrupted again, I will allow the audience to make its own decision as to why I am not permitted to state my case.”
Baird grew red in the face, and it looked as if he were going to explode. Just in time, he glanced at the ever-present cameras.