You have to wonder how much cheaper mobiles would be if companies hadn't a) patented all the obvious ways to do things and b) spent millions suing each other.

You have to wonder how much cheaper mobiles would be if companies hadn't a) patented all the obvious ways to do things and b) spent millions suing each other. I blame the patent office. There was a segment on NPR yesterday where they pointed out in some cases there are thousands of patents that cover the same invention. Isn't that why you have a patent office... to prevent this from happening? Instead all the real decision making is kicked (expensively) into the courts.