Patents - monopoly, incentive or just plain bull ?

What do you folks think of patents.  I say a patent (or copyright) provides some recognition and an edge to the inventor to market & recover his costs. Nowadays patent issuing needs some serious revision. This slashdot article has some interesting comments.  Slashdot's post reminds me of the argumentation I found in the MacroVu article I posted.  Most of what is in slashdot is that way & also includes the irreverent & funny. Many different points of view get published on one topic.  I am sorta on the fence with patents. If the patent/copyright area was revised & made more open it would be nice.  Unfortunately there are a lot of lawyers that profit over the argument about who owns what patent/copyright - so until the bottom of the sea collects them all - good luck!

What say you ?