But the reason to eliminate trade secrets is to increase innovation, because other innovators can build on the released information to make new innovations. But

But the reason to eliminate trade secrets is to increase innovation, because other innovators can build on the released information to make new innovations. But in practice, at least in the us, that isn't what happens. Patents are often difficult difficult to reproduce They are in effect so long it isn't worth creating derivative works unless you have significant negotiating power (usually as a corporation), because then licensing your patent requires also licensing the original patent. And in some ways it is worse than trade secrets, because even if you reverse engineer a product, you can't make your own version without paying royalties. I suppose one benefit of patents is to reduce incentives for corporate espianage.