There are no areas of computer science that seem to rely on patents to make investment worthwhile. The closest would be compression I guess, but unpatented vide

There are no areas of computer science that seem to rely on patents to make investment worthwhile. The closest would be compression I guess, but unpatented video compression techniques seem to be advancing just fine. The inherently low cost of computing research means there is a massive amount of invention without the help of patents, and in those circumstances patents are just getting in the way.