Patent Battles

I know a lot of you have heard somewhere over the past few months about all these court cases with Apple suing Samsung and stuff. Pretty much everyone is suing everyone for infringing "patents" and other intellectual property. To be completely honest and just right out there, Really guys? Why is it that these big companies like Apple (please note that Apple is not the only one but they are one of the worst) think they own all these things like touchscreens and multitouch? The problem with the patent system now is that it is too easy to get approved and the rules are not even followed. 

An example of the easy part would be a young child who successfully patented a way of swinging on a swingset. He was awarded that patent and it calls for swinging in a unique way due to repetitive swinging becoming boring. Seriously? Things like this aren't that big of a deal because it all ends up coming down to just a cute innocent thing. But in the real world companies are abusing the patent system for their own gain and it is destroying business. Take for example the multitouch patent that Apple owns. The paperwork states that Apple owns the rights to using any gestures that require multiple touch contacts. The problem with this patent is that pretty much every touchscreen enabled device makes use of such commands. There is no reason that something like this should be controlled by one company.

I get that patents are necessary to protect peoples inventions but there is a thing as to far. Hardware is one thing and copying software line for line is acceptable. But lately it seems like everyone has these patents that are extremely generalized and overall cut down on competition and ingenuity more than if anyone could use the idea. Just imagine if say Apple patented the computer. That would mean no one else could make laptops, desktops and a number of other devices and there would be a monopoly. Well unfortunately this is what is happening right now. I may not have all the answers to fix the system but what I can tell you is that it's messed up and needs repair. 

What do you think about the patent systems and these patent battles? Have patents gone to far? Should we get rid of them all together? or are they just fine? Leave your comments in the section down below with your opinion and be sure to follow the blog if you want updates to new posts. Until next time my readers!?