Not just companies, people. That's why. It means that if I came up with a really novel way to solve the problem of protecting file contents I, an individual, can protect myself from some massive company just copying the idea and selling it.
I wasn't concerning myself with people here, but with companies. Corporations are not people. Whether patents are appropriate for the lone independent inventor is its own discussion.
Once a person starts the company they typically sign the patent over to it although they are still listed as the investors. This is how intellectual property works.
It would be very difficult to have a patent system where patents are owned exclusively by individuals, especially single individuals.
I don't understand why you are saying this. The issue I brought up was giving a state-backed legal monopoly of a basic idea to a company. I have not said I'm in favour of giving a similar monopoly to an individual, just that it's a different discussion which frankly isn't very relevant here since the patent in question is owned by AT&T and NCR.
But to address what you said directly, I don't think it would be hard to have a system where patents are owned by an individual rather than a corporation. There's no fundamental law of the universe which says that patents must be assignable to corporations, or that patents must be assignable to someone other than the inventor at all. Though again, I am not advocating for such a system, and again, I am not sure why you are bringing it up.
As with most laws there's good and bad.