I can back this up. I took a course last year from a guy who's one an expert on the history of IP law (http://www.adrianjohns.com/ http://www.adrianjohns.com/).

I can back this up. I took a course last year from a guy who's one an expert on the history of IP law (http://www.adrianjohns.com/ http://www.adrianjohns.com/). The patent system in its modern form grew out of the statute of monopolies (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statute_of_Monopolies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statute_of_Monopolies), which was intended to be used only in cases of new innovation, but royalty abused it by granting monopolies on common goods to favored merchants (who paid exorbitant fees for the privilege).