>>>"It was never the object of patent laws to grant a monopoly for every trifling device, every shadow of a shade of an idea, which would naturally and spontaneously occur to any skilled mechanic or operator in the ordinary progress of manufactures. Such an indiscriminate creation of exclusive privileges tends rather to obstruct than to stimulate invention. It creates a class of speculative schemers who make it their business to watch the advancing wave of improvement, and gather its foam in the form of patented monopolies, which enable them to lay a heavy tax on the industry of the country, without contributing anything to the real advancement of the arts. It embarrasses the honest pursuit of business with fears and apprehensions of unknown liability lawsuits and vexatious accounting for profits made in good faith."
>>> --U.S. Supreme Court, Atlantic Works vs. Brady, 1882

Perfectly applicable today.
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>Exactly. Lizard lawyers, croney judges, greedy plaintifs.
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A small story for the other side (and I believe there are countless, though getting less and less). . .

My brother died of Aspergillus fungus infection in a Montreal hospital this year. He had been in the hospital for 10 days when the infection was found despite these conditions:
1) The hospital, the week before he was admitted, was in the news daily because Aspergillus fungus had been found in the ventilation system through a good part of the hospital, including the operating rooms areas.
2) One patient operated on in January had died of it that week for sure and one or two other deaths were (now) highly suspect. The confirmed patient had had a transplant in January.
3) Aspergillus fungus is particularly bad for immunosuppressed (transplant recipients, typically) people. There are NO effective drugs for regular people and immunosuppression only makes things worse. My brother was immunosuppressed.
4) My brother had been a patient at the hospital for 20+ years as his kidney disease progressed to a transplant and then for post-transplant monitoring.
5) My brother was admitted with severe breathing problems. When admitted and knowing his symptoms, my sister asked the doctor if it could possibly be 'that Aspergillus stuff' that is floating around this hospital. She was dismissed.
6) Getting no where for 9 days, a procedure to obtain material from the lungs was done on the 10th day. Aspergillus was found.
7) He died two days later.

A lawyer contacted my sister-in-law to have her join a class action suit against the hospital. She declined, despite pressure (not a lot, but too much under the circumstances) from the lawyer.

It was her decision and we all felt that she did the right thing. A good part of the reasoning was that taking millions from the hospital did no other patient any good at all (they are publically funded in Canada) and would probably actually hurt future patients.