[Hellmark]

Considering how much eminent domain has been abused, I really wouldn't want it to happen anymore than it has.

If it were to be applied to intellectual property, the argument could be made that formulas to make medicine would be for the public interest, and taken. The company that spent millions on researching would not be able to recoup all of their money, let alone profit. After that, why would the company, or others in the field put forth the time, effort, and money, to simply have what they do taken away from them. Now, before you say "but eminent domain is supposed to require that the people who have their property taken are compensated", understand that they rarely get what their full value is. I know from personal experience, after losing my family home this way. The amount I was given was less than half of the market value, because of how they valued it. It was 5 acres and a house in the middle of a city, but the given value was based on what similarly sized homes in the area appraised at. It didn't matter that similar homes in the area were on eighth to quarter acre lots. Even still, when it comes to intellectual property, how can you effectively come up with a price tag? Normally you would take bids, to see what others are willing to pay. You can't really do an appraisal like with real estate. Plus, more often than not anymore, the property isn't held and used by the government after it is taken via eminent domain, but rather used for other companies. For instance, the reason my home was taken, was because a developer needed more land for a sewage system for an office complex they just built. A friend of mine had the building he owned for his store taken, because the city he was in felt that it would be more beneficial to have a large strip mall, than a handful of small stores. In both cases, the cities in question took the land, gave a pittance, and then sold the land to developers. The developers profited, since they were able to get the land for less through the government than if they bought it outright, and also didn't have to worry about people not wanting to sell, since the deal was forced.