The problem with patents is fourfold: 1. Large companies, as a whole, like them. So Republicans like them; 2. Trial lawyers definitely like them (software pat

The problem with patents is fourfold: 1. Large companies, as a whole, like them. So Republicans like them; 2. Trial lawyers definitely like them (software patents are the Lawyer Full Employment Act in all but name). Many Congressmen are lawyers. The Democratic Party is basically the political wing of the American Bar Association (eg it's Democrats who oppose tort reform of any kind) so Democrats like patents too; 3. They're currently being wielded by largely American companies. If American companies were seen as being victimized by foreign companies it would be a totally different political landscape; and 4. America is such a large market that it affects both local and foreign companies anyway so there is limited benefit to setting up shop elsewhere. Personally I think (3) and (4) are the key to getting Congress to do something but I suspect that by the time either or both happen, it'll be far too late to fix. America, as a whole, seems beholden to "old world thinking" when it comes to intellectual property. Just look at the mess of lawsuits by the RIAA/MPAA (being tantamount to legalized extortion), copyright treaties negotiated in secret that want to put copyright infringement on the same level as terrorism, the Obama administration infested with ex-RIAA lawyers and so on. The collective ignorance with respect to IP by the courts, the executive branch, the legislature and most people as a whole is staggering and until that changes don't expect much to change.