The patent system had an important purpose during the industrial revolution, and I believe it still has a place for "hard" innovations that require years or dec

The patent system had an important purpose during the industrial revolution, and I believe it still has a place for "hard" innovations that require years or decades of research before becoming marketable. But for trivial cases like most software patents, it is just something to prop up the established big companies (and keep lawyers fed) at the expense of emerging players.