> Or that China _is_ a surveillance state It is, as is the US. Or most other developed nations, if we're going to be honest with ourselves. > Does the U.S. no

> Or that China _is_ a surveillance state It is, as is the US. Or most other developed nations, if we're going to be honest with ourselves. > Does the U.S. not hold the most patents? The US patent system has a very large number of patents (maybe the largest number in the world), but how many are held by US citizens and companies? Foreign entities are allowed to register US patents (and many do) in order to be able to sue US entities. In fact, this effect is significant enough that the Australian Government's Law Reform Commission noted in a 1990 report[1] that the existence of a patent system may actually have a net negative effect to the economy because of this effect. [1]: https://www.alrc.gov.au/publications/2-patent-system/economic-benefits-patent-system https://www.alrc.gov.au/publications/2-patent-system/economi...