Let me first say I hate most patents, but they are alowing patents for stupid things, like a rectagular touch screen phones. Or maybe the patent lenght should be shorter, so as to give an advantage, and incentive, but not to halt progress.
Yet, It seems that Google's secret sauce search algorithm made lots of cash for Stanford to help continue to educate and incubate more ideas like this. Without Googles edge of a protected formula, the relatively "non evil" company may not have grown to offer us free services like google voice, gmail, google docs, and a free OS.
That's not a patent, it's a trade secret. The difference is that if I independently invent a search algorithm that happens to be the same as Google's, they don't have the right to sue me.
Yet, It seems that Google's secret sauce search algorithm made lots of cash for Stanford to help continue to educate and incubate more ideas like this. Without Googles edge of a protected formula, the relatively "non evil" company may not have grown to offer us free services like google voice, gmail, google docs, and a free OS.