What's the Point of Patents?

Big companies can get these big arsenals and can set up these nuclear war type situations. But if you're a small entity, you just can't amass that very large portfolio. And so our inclination towards more and more patents in these te companies creates a an asymmetry depending on companys size. It also feels pretty unhealthy for the overall innovation ecosystem. I think as was kind of a representative exampleof how how these patents are often used.