&gt; To rephrase, what exactly do we lose out if patents didn&#x27;t exist?<p>If you&#x27;re talking about mundane things like a slider on a phone lock-screen - than obviously nearly nothing.<p>On the otherhand if you are talking about a result of research that might have taken 5-10 years - than patent protection is a big deal and very few private companies would be incentivized to engage in such research without a patent system.