When I was growing up I remember that my dad was always carrying around rolls of paper with drawings on them, I never understood until I was in my teens what he was doing with them. My dad was an engineer, he spent his working life designing new machines to be implemented within industry. Years later after he retired my dad still went around with these rolls of paper, but this time with a broader smile on his face. This was because the drawings were of his personal ideas and inventions to give benefit to us all. However those smiles faded a bit once he started to learn about how his inventions could get built and developed into real working products for you and me.

The patent laws don't really protect the individual inventor when the cost of developing the idea is so large. My dad was working on engines that produce vastly more power for the same amount of fuel, or the same power for less fuel, saving us all money and better for the environment. However the cost of building a prototype is restrictive (it isn't a Dyson cleaner!!!) and the only people that would be interested are large car companies, that have their own engineers so show no interest in the individual. Also if they like an idea they can sit and wait 10 years and then just use it or even slightly adapt it and take the idea earlier. So in this case the inventor has an idea, maybe a patent and no way to see it through to  a real product. My dad doesn't want to share with a company and have it stolen, lets be honest it has happened before. So the question is, how do ideas like this get turned into a product, and how does the inventor, the manufacturer and the public all benefit from the original invention.
What about a different system of patents, what about a single international patent built into international law where the inventor is recognised for his/her idea. Where if used in anyway the manufacturer pays the inventor a flat fee for each product produced, the more sold the better it is for all parties.
Now there will be all sorts of issues with this idea, however as a principle it surely is better than what we have today.
If you are interesting in this area at all or have any views on it I would welcome your views.