Why Patent?
A patent gives an inventor a 20 year monopoly over exploiting an invention; after that, the invention is in the public domain, for all to use. Preparing and filing a patent application takes time and money, however - wouldn't it be great if you could automatically receive protection on creation of the invention, like copyright? And copyright lasts for 50 years (70 in the US)!
The only protection that lasts forever, or at least an indefinite period, is a trade secret. If you can keep the invention secret, and it can't be reverse-engineered, then this would be the way to go ,especially as it's free.
Benefits of Patents
A granted patent (and ungranted in certain circumstances) gives enforcement rights to the owner against infringers, which an owner (or licensee) can use to stop the infringing behavior and claim damages. Patents can therefore be valuable property, which can be bought and sold like any other property. We recently saw the patent portfolio of Nortel sold to a conglomerate including Apple and Microsoft for $4.5 billion. As a property, patents can also support investment in businesses - after all a patent gives a competitive advantage. Producing this kind of value, a patent encourages innovation and rewards invention.
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