“Exploratory research is really like working in a fog. You don’t know where you’re going. You’re just groping. Then people learn about it afterwards and think how straightforward it was.” – Francis Crick

That is what patent haters say as well. You take a zillion years developing just the right product and the moment you succeed copycats come out of the woodwork. When you them, everyone's like you're such a troll! Patents should be illegal bla bla bla.