Patents Are Not "Cash Cows"
To deeply misguided or infiltrated (by non-scientists) patent offices all patents are just "something to make money from/with"; to patent trolls (parasites, opportunists, blackmail artists) patents are "assets" or "property" or whatever.
The notion of patents was conceived centuries ago because of ripoff artists and because people took their knowledge to the grave, fearing that sharing that knowledge would benefit some competition (or they simply lacked an incentive/means of passing on that knowledge).
Now the patent offices are controlled by non-scientists with no background in patents and nepotism (a form of corruption) to compensate for ignorance we are told lies about patents as something about "innovation" and they tell us businesses must have patents to "succeed" (i.e. they need to pay those corrupt officials for monopolies or constantly endure patent trolls - something they would face regardless of how many patents they hoard).
People who deliberately don't understand patents (or believe lies about them) will fail to understand how the world works (or does not work). █