In theory, the purpose of a patent is to encourage sharing inventions so people can build on each-others' work. In practice, the modern purpose of a patent is t

In theory, the purpose of a patent is to encourage sharing inventions so people can build on each-others' work. In practice, the modern purpose of a patent is to claim ownership over ideas and block further innovation so the author can extract rents via the court system; they are typically written to be as vague and inscrutable as possible to help cover a wider range of possible alternative inventions someone else might come up with, with no incentive for clarity. There's generally little reason for someone who isn't a lawyer to read a patent that hasn't expired yet – still a decade away in this case. A paper is usually better: the goal is very explicitly sharing knowledge, and there are peer reviewers and editors whose job is to make sure the writing is clear.