The USPTO sucks

There are many rules on what can and can't be patented, even in the United States, but the three most important rules are:

1. The invention has to be original, not something that has existed for years and decades (ie. "prior art").
2. You can't patent someone else's invention, even if that hasn't been patented (it's prior art).
3. Only physical devices can be patented, not algorithms.

For the longest time the third rule didn't apply in the United States, but at some point, about a decade or so ago, that rule changed, and now also in that country algorithms cannot be patented, only physical devices. In other words, you can't patent techniques, ways to do something, instructions on how to do something, ie. algorithms. Even if the instructions are on how to create a physical device, the instructions themselves cannot be patented (even if the device itself is.) Pure algorithms, just the way to do something, is doubly not patentable because there's not even a physical device involved.

Those rules are pretty much universal in most countries, even in the United States.

The main problem, however, is that the rules are meaningless because the United States Patent and Trademark Office doesn't enforce them. Rules that are not enforced are useless.

Indeed, for many decades the USPTO has accepted completely invalid patents (that only fulfill some technical requirements for the patent submission itself) with an open attitude of "we'll just accept it, let the parties involved fight it in courts."

Indeed, they quite deliberately do pretty much no research, they don't do their due diligence, and they just accept pretty much any patent submissions they receive, even if they are blatantly against the rules. They can't be bothered, and they just leave it to the courts to decide whether patents are valid or not. They themselves experience no consequences nor repercussions for accepting invalid patents, so they literally do not have to care.

That's why the USPTO grants completely ridiculous patents, like the one they recently granted to Nintendo about a video game mechanic. A 100% algorithm patent, and a technique that has existed for literally decades and decades, which by breaks several rules for patents. But the USPTO doesn't care. They don't need to care. It's no skin off their backs. They have a very direct attitude of "let the corporations fight it among themselves in court."

The USPTO is a disgrace and a complete joke. The government should be doing something about it, but of course they don't.