But it's not like gold. Gold is physical - it requires that you do something to obtain it somehow, and it's (generally) clear who rightfully possess that partic

But it's not like gold. Gold is physical - it requires that you do something to obtain it somehow, and it's (generally) clear who rightfully possess that particular piece of gold at any given time. Patents are ideas. Two (or more) people can independently come up with exactly the same idea, sometimes in very different contexts. The patent system rewards the person who files a patent for it first, and in fact, for the patent troll, it's particularly lucrative when other people execute successfully (which generally means they've actually contributed something of value to society).