Checks and Balances (Score 1)

What I haven't seen is anyone talking about the fact that there are checks and balances in this system. Using an example of one bad patent to throw the system out is unfortunately far too easy to do. Coming back to reality though means that if you think it is a bad patent and it is going to impact your business, you can challenge it in court. The courts throw patents out all the time. When large corporations write patents they do so to maximize their coverage. They do so often at their own risk. The broader the coverage, the more likely people will be to challenge it (and win). This gives rise to multiple patent strategies. They may write a narrow application to cover the idea they think they can defend, and a broad application that will likely get challenged. This is a pretty low risk strategy. If the broad patent gets granted they draw whatever benefit they can off of it. I know of some cases where the broad patent was written just to delay a competitor from entering the market. The competitor would have to defeat the patent before they could launch. So just because a patent gets granted, it doesn't mean it will necessarily survive.