I applaud Samuel Goldman for pointing out that, in Locke’s theory, the “right” to property derives from the act of (or at least the intent to) make productive use of same. Locke is properly understood as a fore-runner of Marx’s labor theory of value.

Without carrying a brief for Locke’s theory in general (much less its application to the case of the appropriation of land in the Americas), I wonder whether anyone has undertaken the project of applying Locke’s theories to intellectual property. It seems to me that if “waste” land has no proper owners, the same should logically be true of intellectual property. Might such an application be used to justify clearing out the stacks of defensive “patents” acquired in order to retain the right to sue someone who actually makes use of the patented innovations?