> Patents remain relevant and valuable in fields beyond software, where product development and basic R&D costs a hell of a lot more than it does in our little field.

There's evidence that innovation increases without patents.

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100421/1451179133.shtml http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/study_says_patents_hind... http://blog.mises.org/10217/yet-another-study-finds-patents-...

Patents are rent seeking agreements and have long since been outdated, if they ever made sense.

Basically, I think of patents in the same light as special interest groups. They promote the welfare of the few at the expense of the rest.