If you steal something from a big or little guy, you are taking something the party paid for and has exclusive use there of. Your post tells of a “victim” If you steal something from a big or little guy, you are taking something the party paid for and has exclusive use there of. Your post tells of a “victim” mentality that is the current currency of the Nanny state.
The post you responded to: Don’t you just love software and business method patents? They’re like a big club for the established players to beat down innovative start-ups with. In the end only we, the consumers, lose.
Under the present patent/legal climate, success in patent litigation often has more to do with the legal resources one has available, and one's willingness to use them, than with the actual merit of the patents at issue.
Oftentimes things are "invented" before they are practical. Sometimes these new inventions are unique and novel. Other times they're obvious to everyone, but almost nobody sees any need to document them since they're not practical yet, and will be obvious once they become practical.
Should companies who spend time documenting the obvious be rewarded more than companies that focus on the practical?