[dave_sullivan]

Because they can make a great deal of money by making something that people want and competing with others for market share.

If your business cannot survive without a state enforced monopoly, it's a business that can't support itself and should not exist.

People often point to drug development to illustrate your point about the necessity of patents, but how about a world in which drug development is public and funded by government as well as industry participants and a "drug company" becomes more of a "drug manufacturer" making generics. Lower profits, but consumers benefit from more selection, and I would argue the science of drug discovery would move faster because it could focus on discovery more than legal bullshit. If your interest in medicine is literally only money, maybe you should try something else other than medicine. Medical innovation did not start with patents.