Patents are even worse than that.

Imagine cures from cancer, patented and locked away.
Imagine 100mpg cars, patented and locked away.
Imagine free energy, patented and locked away.

Tesla giving away patents? Who issued Tesla a patent on anything??!!
Their car was built straight out of a book published in the 70s.

The worst thing is that everyone i talk to about a new idea, says, you need to patent it. They all parrot the same thing.

But, no one understands what a patent is.
A patent does not aid the inventor at all.
One could actually make a case that it screws over the inventor the most.
(because of the type of person an inventor is)

It screws over the Tesla's, and it aids the Edison's.