Ideas have people.

They were always there waiting to enter the minds of people.

Patents are to suggest and protect those claiming that an ideas and inventions are the deliberate action of a person and the first person claiming he was the first now "owns" the idea.

It rarely ever is the deliberate action to find something, or the first to find something, but rather stumbling onto something one was not at all looking for but which turns out to be great and useful.

Patent are a form of protectionism. Great for those with money, there to make more money, abusing the legal system to help defend this impossible ownership position...