What if the government said you had no choice but to pay up? And what if only one company held the patents for the safety mechanism?
What’s it worth to you to minimise the risk of cutting off a finger: $300, $600, $1200? Or perhaps it’s worth nothing, if you think you’re already careful enough.
When the technologies are patented, the trade-offs can become even more clear, like the high prices of drug companies in exchange for the innovation of new drugs. With table saws, it might similarly lead to a period of less competition and more profit for the company that developed the safety mechanism.
Few consumers choose to pay the price. In 2016, the most recent year with available sales data, less than 2 per cent of the 675,000 table saws sold in the United States were SawStop saws. Peter Feldman, the lone Republican commissioner, chastised SawStop’s chief executive for not agreeing to license the technology. “Rather than seeking to compete fairly,” Feldman told him, “I see what you’re doing as rent-seeking behaviour, pure and simple.”
The safety commission generally doesn’t concern itself with the potential for patent litigation or effective monopoly. It would go into effect after three years. SawStop chief executive Matt Howard has pledged to open one of the company’s key patents to competitors when that happens.
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