Thanks everyone for the replies. I agree, this is an interesting discussion. It seems like patents are such a thing that many people who's not entrepreneurs (in

Thanks everyone for the replies. I agree, this is an interesting discussion. It seems like patents are such a thing that many people who's not entrepreneurs (including VCs) assume you have to do but very few question why. It's like "oh, you have a startup in high-tech, must have a patent, then?". I would guess the general opinion in the HN-crowd is that ideas are worthless and that execution counts. Well, patents are "just" ideas. So, are they worthless? If so, why does everyone keep asking about them?