How come there are so many patents and yet as a consumer I see zero inventions I'd regard as patent-worthy?
Best example is car companies. I heard from one of the employee that they already have research and patents to build more efficient cars but the production of those are delayed for getting the value for the research done.
Not really, one often needs to prove how the innovation works even if algorithmic (for example a gene sequence identifying itself was justifiable for many companies, and proved they weren't making stuff up.)
Patents sound vague on purpose, but I assure you real money and mountains of expensive studies were done prior to publishing any claims. =3
The majority of modern patents are the equivalent of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP), and if you want rounded corners on a phone that will be $23m + 7% of retail sales.
This is why some people have gadgets from 10 years in the future, and others get toys from 17 years in the past. Ask yourself who has a spare $140k to file global patent these days... the list has shrunk. =3
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Competitive_exclusion_principl...