One problem with software patents is that the vast majority of innovation happens in the minds of individual programmers, and often goes into products without a

One problem with software patents is that the vast majority of innovation happens in the minds of individual programmers, and often goes into products without anyone else in the world being aware. They don't and couldn't be expected to know about all of the thousands of software patents that could read on their innovations, and then negotiate licenses. Imagine how little innovation would happen if it did work like this. But this is to some degree how the system is supposed to work. Instead, the system works as combination of big businesses using questionable patents and threats of expensive litigation as a tactic to protect their turf from competition, thereby stifling innovation. Others play the patent lottery filing for or purchasing software patents in the hopes to later find a big-time infringer to go after, on innovation that most likely happened without knowledge of their patents and would have happened anyway.