Although I don't have a problem with patents as originally intended, particularly for material inventions, the last number of years people have been patenting all kinds of software "techniques" under the guise of inventions, when they are just obvious extensions to current art. Remember, a patent is supposed to be "non-obvious" but we get patents covering everything from menus to balloon alerts. Patent packagers are then collecting these things and granting immunity to companies that pay a general license, because it's just cheaper to do so than to litigate all the various patents and try to overturn them. Basically, it sucks, and I put them at the same level as those who do trivial greenmail class-action suits (don't get me started on those).
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Although I don't have a problem with patents as originally intended, particularly for material inventions, the last number of years people have been patenting all kinds of software "techniques" under the guise of inventions, when they are just obvious extensions to current art. Remember, a patent is supposed to be "non-obvious" but we get patents covering everything from menus to balloon alerts. Patent packagers are then collecting these things and granting immunity to companies that pay a general license, because it's just cheaper to do so than to litigate all the various patents and try to overturn them. Basically, it sucks, and I put them at the same level as those who do trivial greenmail class-action suits (don't get me started on those).