The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has recently accelerated the issuance of patents for "inventions" that most people would consider extremely obvious and not in need of a patent (case in point: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/16/apple-now-owns-the-page-turn/).
This is at least in part due to new guidelines which eliminate 4 of the 7 rules for determining whether an invention is "obvious" (http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101108/02464211754/us-patent-office-m...).
Patents should only be issued for inventions which are new, innovative and NOT obvious. Patents should support innovators and encourage new business formation, not give undue competitive advantage to large companies with vast legal resources.