I saw a comment about someone possibly not getting credit in a patent on another thread and wanted to see what the community opinion on this was.

     I know there is often value placed on if someone has obtained a patent but in my own observation it seems like a competitor can make a very minute change and get around many patents. Then the only people that really see much benefit from a patent are the patent attorneys.

      Am I completely off base on this or is there real value to patents?