[BraveNewCurency]

The point of patents is to entice innovators to PUBLISH their inventions.

A patent should be about some process that is so complex that nobody else has figured how to do it before (i.e. some secret trick). When it's published, humanity is better off by publishing it now (even if it's locked up for a little while) so people can investigate related solutions (some of which might not infringe).

But the patent office is allowing patents on obvious things, so the public gets no value in their publication. (Actually negative value, since people have to waste time reading them and companies are afraid to develop products).