If the new welding method is developed enough to patent, but possibly not enough to mass produce new welding equipment, then it will require an investment from someone to get it into use outside the laboratory. Being able to license them a patent provides a greater incentive to make that investment. It&#x27;s possible for an idea to be simultaneously an improvement, cheap in the long run, and also require an up-front investment that might never be made back without a guarantee of monopoly.<p>I can&#x27;t judge how frequently this occurs, but it seems reasonable.