"However, I would say that you're committing a logical error; we have a certain set of patent laws, we have software leadership, and you seem to conclude theref

"However, I would say that you're committing a logical error; we have a certain set of patent laws, we have software leadership, and you seem to conclude therefore there is a causative relationship. That's not logically sound." No, I didn't go that far, but I certainly used this fact to place the burden of proof on people who claim that the "current software patent laws are broken". "What I see out there in the world is that very few people are creating software because they are incentivized by a patent system to do so" I see the exact opposite: what is the point in coming up with an innovative concept if anyone can steal it the day after you make it public and reuse it without any consequences? I have a strong suspicion that we would be seeing a lot less start ups if such laws were not in effect. "It's not hard to conclude the value of patents are negative" It's obviously not hard, but it's also incorrect :-)