First of all the $29 Billion was not direct legal costs, it was calculated based on the change in the defendant’s stock price after it was announced they were being sued for infringement. This method of calculating losses is pure nonsense. Second, the study is flawed in that it assumes that all patent lawsuits were frivolous. If a company infringes a patent, then the drop in its stock price should be considered the amount of money the company stole from the inventor. This theft inhibits invention. For more information on the flaws in this study see http://hallingblog.com/flawed-study-by-boston-university-used-to-justify-infringement/

Global warming is environment religion, it has nothing to with science. The priests of global warming cannot explain the historical periods of warming and cooling. If there is any correlation between CO2 and global temperatures, it is negative and does not support the global warming thesis. The major factor effecting temperatures on earth is the output of the sun, which varies and we cannot predict this variations with much precision. Sun spot activity was up in the 90s and this was the cause of the increase in temperatures. Sun spot has been down this decade which is why average temperatures are down this decade.