Some types of inventions are easier to keep secret than others. And some, like drugs, probably legally have to disclose ingredient in order to sell them. But, in general, I'm not sure we really want a system where companies are incentivized to either just not pursue certain avenues of research given the results will just be copied or to take steps to make it harder to reverse engineer devices.
I agree patent trolls are a problem. And I agree we want to incentivize people to innovate. I am citing an example with copyright how Congress chose to strike a balance and I think it could be applied to patents.
I have several patents that were issued to both large companies and start-ups. The patent system right now only works for large companies and is actively stopping innovation by small companies. What changes do you think would help?
Breadth of patents is the most obvious issue--though it's somewhat understandable scope creep given that mechanical inventions are probably not as central as they once were. But any system of IP protection is always going to favor the entities who can afford good lawyers and pursue enforcement claims. A system where those same large entities can swoop in and copy anything they want is not obviously better.
