The owner of a History patent that has gone on to commercial success by someone else (History patents offer no exclusive use, so perhaps many others used it) applies for a prize, i.e., compensation for the intellectual contribution to society. The prize committee tries to sort out the amount the History patent contributed toward the ultimate implementation of the product (a devilish detail). This is paid out of taxpayer funds: "all of society benefited from the final product, so all of society pays." Information is a public good.
These prizes provide incentive for people to file History patents.
Obviously they'll be an uneasy situation of a morally disgusting product that sells extremely well (there are MANY of these, reflecting a different fundamental problem) for which the inventor seeks public compensation, then intense pressure on the committee to be political.
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