Delete All IP Law? Why Tech’s Loudest Voices Just Took Aim at the Patent System

When Jack Dorsey tweeted, “delete all IP law,” and Elon Musk chimed in with “I agree,” they weren’t just airing frustrations, they were throwing a match into the fuel tank of global innovation policy.

These are not fringe voices. Dorsey helped shape the social web. Musk has built rockets, cars, and AI companies. But this time, instead of proposing reform, they called for obliteration.

And it’s tempting, isn’t it? The patent system can feel clunky. Copyright fights are messy. Trademark battles clog courts. AI is writing code, painting art, and generating product ideas faster than laws can keep up. It’s no wonder some innovators feel that the system is out of step.

But let’s slow down.

Deleting intellectual property law wouldn’t accelerate innovation. It would instead destroy the incentive to invest in it.

IP Law Isn’t the Problem. It’s the Infrastructure.

What Dorsey and Musk are really reacting to isn’t the concept of IP, it’s the outdated execution of it.

Innovators today are facing:

• An overburdened patent examination process
• High litigation risks even for non-infringers
• Legal blind spots around AI-assisted inventions
• IP weaponization by trolls or monopolists

So yes, there’s frustration. But let’s not confuse dysfunction with irrelevance. IP isn’t broken. It’s overloaded.

In the Age of AI, the IP System Needs Evolution, Not Erasure

AI is accelerating the pace of ideation. Startups are filing faster. Multinationals are deploying hundreds of patent filings across jurisdictions globally. The volume is unprecedented, and the system was never designed for this scale.

What we need isn’t to burn the house down. We need to rewire the grid.

Modern innovation calls for:

• Smarter, AI-augmented patent search and analytics
• Better guidance on AI-generated works and ownership
• Real-time IP strategy aligned with R&D sprints
• Greater accessibility to IP protection for MSMEs and startups

Bold Talk Is Easy. Building With Protection Is Harder.

When billionaires call for the end of IP, they’re speaking from a place of insulation. But the real economy runs on something more fragile: trust. If small innovators, researchers, and startups can’t protect their work, investment collapses. Collaboration stalls. Progress slows.

Innovation isn’t just invention — it’s defensible invention.

And that’s why the solution isn’t to delete IP law. It’s to redesign it for the velocity of the 21st century.

Final Word

Dorsey and Musk may have lit the match, but the real question isn’t whether IP law should exist, it’s how we make it stronger, smarter, and fairer for the next wave of innovators.

At Maxinov, we believe that future belongs to those who create boldly, but also protect wisely.

Want to rethink your IP strategy in the AI era? Let’s talk.