>the system exists to promote and foster invention It doesn't matter why it exists; what matters is what effect it has. "The purpose of a system is what it doe

>the system exists to promote and foster invention It doesn't matter why it exists; what matters is what effect it has. "The purpose of a system is what it does." >But neither of us would have chosen to invent anything in the first place if it's all risk and no reward. This is not true. Plenty of small companies invent things every day and never patent anything. The idea that companies would just stop innovating without patents is not just implausible, it's plainly untrue.