I disagree. Patents are a good idea and mostly aren't that bad (you mainly hear about the bad ones).

This one seems like a solid idea worthy of some reward.

I think the patent system does need some tweaks but other than that it's not too bad overall:

* Software patents need a shorter term than 20 years. Maybe 10.

* It needs to be way easier to invalidate patents after they have been granted using prior art.

* Ideally they would simplify the crazy language in patents so they are easier to read. Do we really need to put "plurality" in every other sentence?