The main problem with patents isn't their use as "first strike" attacks but rather their use for "defensive attacks". A big corporation can amass a huge collect

The main problem with patents isn't their use as "first strike" attacks but rather their use for "defensive attacks". A big corporation can amass a huge collection of patents covering random trivial capabilities while a startup can't. This also lets the big corporation copy the innovations of a startup with impunity, because the startup doesn't have the resources for a drawn out legal battle, and they would fear the counter suits based on that patent portfolio. Someone else in this thread mentioned Amazon patenting a search field auto complete - that's the kind of ubiquitous functionality that could be weaponized in such a scenario.