Honestly I think the apology is a bit unnecessary but I&#x27;m glad many are turning around on the ideal of technology patents. Yeah patents on obvious designs not only hinder but hurt innovation (one click, anyone?) but even patents on non-obvious but obviously-trending designs can slow progress in many areas.<p>I&#x27;ll be honest though I wish patents worked. It would be nice to have a way to protect the &quot;little guy&quot; when they figured out a break through, showed it to the &quot;big guy&quot; and was then ripped off. But in practice the &quot;little guy&quot; would need millions of dollars just to create the case and go after the &quot;big guy&quot;. That practically makes the patent system a place where only the &quot;big guys&quot; can play which defeats its purpose.<p>So maybe it&#x27;s time to do something radical and just completely end or retard its abilities. I&#x27;m not sure if the current political environment will change this system any time soon though. Most patent holders have large sums of political influence.