I think this enlightened patent office you are seeking is a mirage. The people are never going to be disinterested enough, educated enough, or smart enough to a

I think this enlightened patent office you are seeking is a mirage. The people are never going to be disinterested enough, educated enough, or smart enough to award patents in a reasonable way. I think the ideal of a very good patent system is great. I'm all for protecting the little inventor against the evil corporations, but the current laws have the opposite effect. Moreover, any law grounded in subjectivity, which is then argued over by spending money in court, can never help the little guy. As long as having a patent requires having a lawyer, patents offer no protection to anyone but the uber-rich and large corporations. If you want to help the common inventor, I think the surest way is to just abolish patents all together and let people compete. Inventors can still keep secrets if they so choose.