I think you've hit the nail on the head. So many patents these days (in software, at least) are just as you describe: cases where someone realized that a probl

I think you've hit the nail on the head. So many patents these days (in software, at least) are just as you describe: cases where someone realized that a problem existed, came up with a quite straightforward solution, and patented it. We need Congress or the courts to tell the PTO that "obvious" means "the solution is straightforward given the problem". And then, of course, we need to get the PTO to hire software engineers who actually know how to build things, so they know what that means.