: Others, like Walter Hunt —the mechanic who invented the safety pin in 1849—sell their rights quickly to settle debts or fund the next idea. The Marketplace of Ideas
For Elias, the sale was a windfall, providing a return on his years of investment. For the buyer, a massive tech conglomerate, the patent was a "defensive" asset, added to a portfolio of thousands to deter competitors from suing them—a strategy known as . The Twist in the Tech Patent Purchases and Litigation Outcomes1 buy and sell patents
: Many inventors, like the legendary Alexander Graham Bell with the telephone, hold onto their patents to build empires. : Others, like Walter Hunt —the mechanic who