[thinkloop]

I wonder why compression seems to be extra sensitive to the existence patents. What about all other fields, aren't there ripe opportunities for European companies to be able to build software that Americans simply can't compete against? Shouldn't there be a cottage industry that does exactly that? What are some of the most stifling non-media patents?

[pluma]

While software patents impact every company's long-term survivability, short-term survivability for startups strongly hinges on investors. European investors are more risk averse and investments in Europe tend to be smaller than in the US. American investors prefer to invest in US companies for obvious reasons.

So a good portion of the startups you're imagining die early due to a lack of investment or incorporate in the US at some point in order to have a better chance of finding investors. And then some of the rest simply aren't as growth-focused because they need to focus on short-term profitability to survive, which means they'll likely end up silently dominating a particular industry niche rather than making a big entrance on the global stage.

Software patents are only a problem if you can survive long enough to be sued. If you're not exceptionally unlucky, you're more likely to go bankrupt before that happens.