There are good and bad ideas around that. Once most manufacturing started to be shipped to countries like China that ignore patent laws, it became kind of silly to actually have them. I would support abolishing patents if we didn't have a technology industry that is more powerful than the government that is supposed to regulate it. Patents are absurdly abused, but there are still cases where they are necessary to protect from the oligarchy
The line between the government and the oligarchs is pretty blurry: I'm not sure if distinct names are warranted.
How do patents protect against oligarchy?
For example, I know someone who owns a patent on blue lasers reading data from a storage medium. She has been quite calm about it and lets mega corporations use the method for not a lot of money. Blu-ray tech can't be controlled by a single company because it has to be licensed through this random individual.
I tend to think society would be much better off if patents were simply abolished. Thoughts?