Here is a good overview with the problems of the current patent system.

http://www.jsonline.com/business/53367952.html

Getting a patent has very little to do with developing a product. If you come up with a new idea you can either develop it for production or develop it for patentability. You can also do both, but by the time you're finished you'll have two different products. I also suspect that the number of patents sought for the sake of keeping an idea on the shelf is increasing and the number of patents sought for protection of a marketable invention is decreasing or at best holding steady.

My experience is with traditional "gadget" patents. I have no experience with patents dealing with computer code, business processes, biochemistry, pharmaceuticals, or other non-gadget areas.