If there is any issue, I don't think that is it. The issue that might arise is that techniques that are invented might never be openly published (since there w

If there is any issue, I don't think that is it. The issue that might arise is that techniques that are invented might never be openly published (since there wouldn't be protection for it). For stuff that is obvious, it wouldn't matter because it is obvious. The non-obvious stuff--the stuff that actually does deserve a patent--might be lost on occasion. I'm not a big fan of patents in general though given my experience with them (and certainly not patents on genes, etc).