Sure. The basic macroeconomics of IP: If ideas are not rivalrous or excludable, any company who tries to recoup upfront development costs will be out competed:

Sure. The basic macroeconomics of IP: If ideas are not rivalrous or excludable, any company who tries to recoup upfront development costs will be out competed: someone who didn't pay upfront costs can afford to sell the innovation at a lower price. This will remove incentives for idea production. The solution is broadly to introduce an element of idea exclusivity. Patents is one way to do this. Without patents, in my hypothetical world, we'd see some combination of other measures (eg. more trade secrets, private exclusivity deals, aggressive branding---note I don't hate trademarks) and we'd also see less ideas being produced. This economy would then have to go on with less idea generation and more friction in protecting innovations. This is based on my best understanding of the issues.