> A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention.
Patents have always been about "promoting the progress of science and useful arts" by promoting disclosure of inventions. The two are intricately linked. More disclosure = more progress.
I’m skeptical too but what OP describes would “promote progress” (by promoting openness vs secrecy). I agree that I’ve always had it explained as “promote progress [by incentivizing creation] but it doesn’t technically specify what he’s implying or what we are.
