
IP bubble
If a little fraction of that patent money (say some %) would go to the guys who actually came up with the patents, I'd be impressed. But as it is, the patents just seem to float around, acquiring or losing virtual value, being transferred for unimaginable quantities of dollars and occasionally being contested in billion dollar lawsuits.
How again do patents stimulate progress if the inventors are fed a few $ for their work and some detached IP industry handles the 10-figure sums to get an edge over the competition? Surely the billions shall pay off by shutting down the innovative competition, so if you are in the business of innovating (as opposed to handling IP), you might be outlawyered soon.