You'd be surprised how far and deep the problem goes. I would also argue that it's not just limited to software patents in particular, but it's become common pr

You'd be surprised how far and deep the problem goes. I would also argue that it's not just limited to software patents in particular, but it's become common practice for many companies to create patents for anything they can imagine. This has resulted in a deluge of patents that have to be sorted out by the USPTO, and therefore a lot of bad, should-be-invalid patents get okayed. Here's a perfect example of a bad patent screwing a company out of a product they've been making for years: http://luma-labs.com/blogs/news/4540122-an-open-letter-to-our-customers-past-and-future http://luma-labs.com/blogs/news/4540122-an-open-letter-to-ou... (Summary: Competitor gets an illegitimate patent approved, and now a company that has been "infringing" on that patent since before they applied to get it has to stop making their product. Why? Because litigation will likely put them out of business, even if they win.) I'm not against the idea of patents, but the direction they've been going in recently, in fact the direction our entire economy has been going in recently, has been that of favoring those with the money to blow on hordes of lawyers capable of interpreting and navigating the legal minefield they themselves have lobbied to create.