Unuseless inventions

Thanks to bobben for the link that made my day.
Chindogu – and Patents. Just how much is a patent worth, in itself? When I hear someone say that a person has a patent to his name, the first thought that flashed in my mind is, “Is it a patent for a minor improvement on an existing idea?”.
I can never quite make up my mind regarding whether or not patents are good. I think the more useful a new invention/method is, the more freely it should be available, which is not always the case. There are two aspects to claiming a patent – intellectual pride, and the financial motive, and I guess it would be unfair not to have patents at all. Oh well, if I say anymore, then this will sound more like a personal-opinion piece on intellectual property than it already does. So here I stop.
P.S. – I would really love to have a “hold-it helmet”