In the shadows of our capitalist society, mages work their magic, writing tomes in arcane scripts, amassing great hordes of documents and angling for a future war.
Actually the truth is somewhat similar. Patent lawyers are employed by firms to protect their ideas. Many of these ideas aren't novel. Apple has patented the rectangular phone. Wargaming has patented their matchmaking system. Some obscure firm has patented letting you play a video game while you wait for your video game to load. There are numerous examples, actually thousands. Facebook has 1400 patents.
Our nation is in dire need for patent reform. Patent trolls extort thousands of dollars out of honest businessmen, in rent-seeking behavior. Money that could go forward in hiring a new person or improving productivity goes towards unscrupulous businessmen who buy patents on say, printing paper from your computer.
Fortress patents today act to disrupt our free market and our free exchange of ideas. Coca Cola's secret formula probably deserves protection. But thousands of patents on methods of business stifles innovation.
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