As a lone inventor myself, I am very sympathetic to the plight of isolated, unfunded individuals who create ideas but do not have the means to either fully develop or protect them. In an ideal world, the value created by such would be universally recognized and compensation would be voluntarily thrust upon them out of sheer gratitude, if nothing else.
Thanks for mentioning Kinsella. The name is familiar, but I need to read him and consider his viewpoint.
I am a named inventor on several patents that were works for hire, and so I do not own the rights. I was compensated during the development of the technologies, but enjoy no residual compensation. Nevertheless, the patents have been an outstanding form of personal credentialing. I have also developed products and processes that I have not patented myself, choosing rather to protect the ideas simply by means of not revealing internal details.
BTW, I'm just seeing your much appreciated response today...
This is an area of considerable interest to me as a "lone inventor," and one I would love to discuss further. As a general summary, I think that progress in all areas has been hampered most directly by the perpetual theft and oppression of the state, and by the reluctance of people to accept new ideas (kind of what I think @steampunkkaja is saying) than by inventors who try to protect their own ideas. And that turtle-like response on the part of we inventors is, of course, a rather natural reaction to the predatory nature of the state, not to mention the other individual and corporate actors who tend to swoop in and plunder good ideas.