 Are patents worthwhile?
jacquesm: The sooner patents are abolished the better.That said, as long as they exist there are situations where patents make sense. If developing your product takes a couple of millions of dollars and it is truly innovative then it makes sense to take out a patent because the overhead is relatively low compared to the potential benefits.For instance, the Dyson vacuum cleaner was protected by a patent and it helped them in going after Philips who shamelessly cloned it.