The US Patent and Trademark Office needs an overhaul. Exclusive rights to methods should be granted to reward inventors, but should have expanded public review to avoid frivolous patents and violations of prior art. In addition, small inventors should not have to fear court costs against a behemoth stealing their ideas through the patent system. I believe that proper peer review would solidify protection for the small inventor, and also help streamline court cases in defense of the same.
The current patent expiration of 20 years, although better than what we've seen in the arena of copyright, is an eternity in technology. Reducing patents on software to five years will encourage enhancements and make better software available to the public.
Frivolous trademarks clog the system and only provide an entry point for litigation. Protection of trademark is an important part of doing business, but the current system of simply allowing a trademark if it doesn't exist should be abandoned for wide public review. To its credit, the US Patent and Trademark Office has used the Internet to accomplish some of this. However, it should also have a similar system for challenging frivolous existing trademarks in addition to patents.
IEEE Spectrum on Fixing the U.S. Patent
System
Trademark application for "Jesus Christ"