Patents, patent protection and, well, anything that prevents one from doing business are inherently anti free trade, i.e. consumer protections, employee safety regs, etc. ETA: in theory, the one who introduces a product to market could have a first to market advantage, other must play catchup in design, manufacturing, distribution, etc. Imagine a world without patents, you'd be free to build an iPhone yourself. If you can get it to market better and cheaper than Apple, people would buy from you instead, or Apple would take less profit and match your price.