I have yet to be shown a single software patent that is the result of research and not just a spark on insight. You could argue that every patent is just a spa

I have yet to be shown a single software patent that is the result of research and not just a spark on insight. You could argue that every patent is just a spark of insight. However, how many sparks could be made if not for all the research that came before them? Google's driverless car comes to mind as a well-known present-day software research project. When you boil down their achievements, they are all just small sparks of insight. But without all that funding and time put into the overall research, would those sparks have ever materialized? There is little reason for one of the algorithms they have developed to just pop into someone's head otherwise.