Patents do serve a useful purpose - for example they were considered so important to fostering innovation that they are built into the US Constitution, which is

Patents do serve a useful purpose - for example they were considered so important to fostering innovation that they are built into the US Constitution, which is pretty lightweight with what is in there, all other things considered. The problem is law hasn't kept up with how they are being abused, or as with Disney and Copyright - special interests have succeeded in perverting the original goals to tilt the balance of power into their favor. We need to wrestle control back, not toss the whole system. Speaking of the US Constitution again, very well reasoned arguments as to why patents were considered so valuable in Federalist 43: https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/01-10-02-0248 https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/01-10-02-024...