When I was at IBM, the whole patent/publication process was intensely gamed. Most employees in my division weren't particularly interested but made efforts to patent/publish because it was part of moving up salary bands.

A few true sociopaths went totally scorched earth with it - digging up years-old reports generated by other teams, getting them published after minimal "updates", and claiming lots of bonus dollars along the way.

It was a very weird experience working at IBM for me . . .