Times change.
by T. Colin Dodd
Edward R. Murrow: Who owns the patent on this vaccine?
Jonas Salk: Well, the people, I would say. There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?
See It Now, April 12, 1955
And from a 2005 New York Times thinkpiece about intellectual property:
When Jonas Salk developed the polio vaccine in 1955, he waived the patent process because he wanted to protect the public as quickly as possible and thought it far more important than making money. When the vaccine was first introduced, the United States had an average of 45,000 cases of polio annually. By 1962 there were 910.
Those crazy old timers had some quaint notions back in the 20th century.
