[snarkpup]

Both of the large high-tech companies I have worked for encouraged engineers to apply for "junk" patents on prior art so they could brandish a large portfolio of patents at their competitors. Their moral justification for this was that all their competitors were doing it, so they needed to do so as well in order to defend themselves.

The small high-tech company I worked for was—as discussed in the article—on the other side of this issue. Patent trolls claiming to have patents on basic concepts in computer programming pounced at IPO time (when small companies are most vulnerable to this sort of thing). E.g., one of these trolls claimed they had a patent on the idea of using "sliders" in user interfaces.

[Mr. Lucky]

Doesn’t White Castle hold all patent rights on sliders?

[ully2]

The truth is, it can take 4 years to get a patent but a large company can kill you in a nanosecond with competition. Even if you do get a patent it can take millions to defend in court against a larger company with more dollars.

[Last Dakotan]

Patents are just a license to hire a lawyer.
Can’t afford a lawyer? - don’t get a patent.

[CodeToad]

There is a massive difference between trade secrets and patents. It is extremely difficult to protect either anymore except through strict secrecy and that isn’t always possible.