[georgemcbay]

Patents (at least as defined in the US Constitution) weren't created to protect intellectual property. The idea that they were is a recent invention that is at odds with history.

Patents no longer serve their original purpose and the current system should be dismantled (though I know it won't be, because the big money is on the side of keeping the broken system).

I'm okay with the idea of something new being created to give protection to intellectual property (on a much shorter timescale, say 2-5 years), but the current patent system is incredibly broken.