Nothing more than leftovers from feudal times... (Score 1)

to stiffle competition from the ground up. There's been misuse issues as long as there have been patents, IIRC back from the 15th century in the republic of venice. I still have to see a defense of patents that hold water. There is not one which is not founded on IP of the public, in other words patents are the very essence of IP theft. Just drop the whole BS. And don't tell me ppl will stop inventing, it's part of human nature. Bah, braindead commercialism.