In spite of the obvious benefits that arise from granting monopolies to inventors, there are those who argue that better results could be obtained by withdrawing government protection from all such enterprises. This argument is based on the assumption (1) that genius does not need a financial stimulus; (2) that the reward arising from this form of monopoly usually goes into the pockets of unscrupulous manufacturers who make a practice of overreaching inventors; (3) that patents serve as the basis of objectionable industrial monopolies; and (4) that patents are often bought by owners of similar, but inferior, patents merely in order to suppress them.