67 Years Ago Today: Jonas Salk Announced The Polio Vaccine... And Did NOT Patent It

67 Years Ago Today: Jonas Salk Announced The Polio Vaccine... And Did NOT Patent It

4 years ago
Anonymous $9CO2RSACsf

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20200326/10100644177/67-years-ago-today-jonas-salk-announced-polio-vaccine-did-not-patent-it.shtml

It seems worth noting a historical milestone today. 67 years ago today, March 26, 1953, Dr. Jonas Salk announced the vaccine for polio, and saved millions of lives. And this is notable given the current COVID-19 pandemic we're all living with. However, at a time when we're having to be vigilant for giant pharmaceutical companies sneakily trying to game the system to get extra exclusivity, and patent maximalists pushing for extended patent terms as an "incentive" to come up with a vaccine, it's worth noting the simple fact that he did not patent the vaccine. Indeed, in a TV interview with Edward Murrow, Salk famously said "could you patent the sun?"

Right at the beginning of that video you can see the famous exchange: