Thomas Jefferson was the first Secretary of State, and ran the first Patent Office. He did not believe that ideas should be monopolized, but shared:

No one possesses the less because everyone possesses the whole of it. He who receives an idea from me receives [it] without lessening [me], as he who lights his [candle] at mine receives light without darkening me.

Many in the tech industry believe that the current patent system perverts the intention of patents (to encourage public disclosure of innovations).