the direct reason is the result of the survival competition among western European countries, which encourages domestic people to actively contribute to inventions and attract inventors to develop in their own countries with a better policy environment. The embryonic form of patent law first appeared in Venice, and then it developed by leaps and bounds in Britain, Germany and France.
At first, it did have the effect of encouraging innovation, but gradually people realized the disadvantages of patent monopoly, which infringed on the public interests, so that many countries abolished the patent system, and some even lasted for half a century.
Later, the legislator finally found a balanced approach, that is, to obtain a patent right, it must be made public, and the principle of exchanging publicity for protection was established, which not only enabled the patentee to obtain a certain monopoly right, but also made the public know the information of the patented technology. The balance between private rights and public rights has also promoted the progress of science and technology. However, the drawbacks of the patent system itself have continued to this day and are still being improved.
Of course, the advantages of the patent system far outweigh the disadvantages in general, especially respecting people's intellectual labor achievements, which is conducive to the creation, dissemination, inheritance and accumulation of technology, and is an important institutional guarantee for the scientific and technological revolution and knowledge economy.