For a while, I've supported a less extreme measure of cutting all patent and copyright durations in half (applied backwards to legacy patents), eliminating all

For a while, I've supported a less extreme measure of cutting all patent and copyright durations in half (applied backwards to legacy patents), eliminating all legacy submarine patents, and requiring that a party proves it is actively using or trying to reduce a patent to practice in order to claim damages in court. But honestly, I think this would work. As long as NDA's are enforceable, which they are, that is sufficient protection for encouraging innovation as trade secrets. The downside, compared to the aforementioned idea, is that less new engineering knowledge is published into the public domain, to then stimulate further idea genesis. But either way is better than the current system. The patent office is so flooded that no one reads the garbage boilerplate that makes up 90%+ of patents.