Patents can help innovation but only in the rare cases where it's actually worth to license the patent in order to still make serious money _now_. But even spec

Patents can help innovation but only in the rare cases where it's actually worth to license the patent in order to still make serious money _now_. But even specific patented solutions often seem to be a hindrance in overall development. As an example, when reading the history of steam engines, I recall several occasions where development simply halted until some patent expired. Nobody got any wealthier either but when the thing fell into public domain, innovation rushed forward. And this was in the 1800's, and pretty much a prime example of what the patent system was cooked up for: a mechanical, specified engineering invention... Yet it failed, already then.