this portion of the article very interesting.

Between 2000 and 2005, more than 64,000 German inventions received patents from the U.S. Patent Office - roughly the same number of patents Germany issued to its own citizens.

The appeal of the American patent system is not limited to Germans. Last year, the U.S. Patent Office granted more than 94,000 patents to foreign inventors. Activity in the U.S. Patent Office was 50 percent higher than the European patent offices combined.

The American system is regarded as the strongest protector of patent rights in the world. Unfortunately, the U.S. Congress is considering "reforming" the system. A bill has already been passed by the House and is under consideration in the Senate. Proposed changes could have potentially devastating consequences to research-based industries