For every patent issued, hundreds are rejected. That's because painting a bumper jack green and calling it a T-post removal tool doesn't make it a patentable device. It makes no difference whether you were the first one to figure out that a bumper jack will pull a post out of the ground, or not. If you made substantial alterations to the bumper jack to make it better at pulling T-posts, you might be able to patent it, but you would still have to pay licensing fees to whoever held the patent on the bumper jack you started with. Different types of patents are good for varying time periods, so you might have a small window in which to make your fortune (or go bankrupt) before the patent expires. Pharmaceutical companies effectively extend their patents by slightly changing the formula (not re-patentable) and then patenting the process by which they produce the drug. Since they have a pretty good idea of how long it takes to come up with another method or process to make the formulation, this is an effective (abeit sleazy) way of keeping cheaper alternatives to their product off the market. The patent circus has a lot of monkeys, smoke, mirrors and billionaire ringleaders to deal with. It's also not very cost effective unless you're damn sure there's a lot of money to be made.
The issue of morality or ethics in business is even more slippery. Expecting any business to walk a higher ground than their competitors sounds great, if you only listen to the friends of some perceived victim of unethical business practices. But if you sold Whatchamajiggers for a living, and for every call or email you received, 90% of them were asking if there wasn't some more affordable version of Whatchamajigger on the market... well, you might go looking for something cheaper, or even consider producing them yourself. In the end, it is the consumers who will dictate whether it is more unethical to compete in a given market, or to ignore the consumer's desire for alternatives to a given product by only offering one brand.
You can buy the shiny Whatchamajigger, or the camouflage Whatchamajigger, the cheapass Whatchamajigger or the Whatchamajigger that does the best job of fixing the Thingamabobber. Or, you can whine about the lack of justice in a capitalist economy and look into becoming a plumber or an accountant or some other Whatchamajigger-free occupation.
Now, y'all want any more gasoline thrown on that fire, or can we get back to roastin' weenies and drinkin' beer?
