[SoftwareMaven]

Patents aren't supposed to lock up abstract ideas, they are supposed to unlock concrete implementations of ideas (unlock by giving details of the implementation to the public in exchange for a short-term monopoly).

There are good arguments either way for whether this is a good idea, but make the ideas far more abstract (like software) and add incredibly short technology cycles (like software), and there is no doubt it's a bad idea.

[makomk]

Patents have never actually worked that way though. For instance, take a look at the history of the early US automobile industry sometime.

[beernutz]

That is an excellent point! The way they are used vs. the way they are MEANT to be used, seem to be worlds apart.