Patents were created to promote innovation. The idea was that instead of keeping your new invention a secret (and be the only one to make money from it or not make money from it - and the knowledge being lost forever if you die or go bankrupt), you share the knowledge of how you did it with others by taking out a patent. Others can see how you did it, but need to pay you royalties in order to make use of your patent. This makes it possible for people who might not have the means to mass-produce something, to still make money from their invention... thus promoting new inventions.
In South Africa, fortunately, scientific discoveries, mathematical algorithms and methods, any artistic expressions and computer software (programs) cannot be patented. Here is one example of why software patents are bad, in the sense of hindering progress and innovation, instead of promoting it: http://k9ventures.com/blog/2011/04/27/modista/ .
As an aside, software, like any written material (including artistic expressions), can be copyrighted, a fact that is used by the various open-source licences. The GPL would not be possible without the existence of copyright. And copyright is granted automatically to the creator of the written material in contrast to patents, which are many time prohibitively expensive to a small business or private person.
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