Jonathan Rowe has written a great commentary for the Christian Science Monitor:
Tollbooths of the mind.

Share money and you have less; share an idea and you still have it, and more.
Jefferson practiced what he preached, in this respect at least. As the
nation’s first commissioner of patents, Jefferson did not grant these
monopolies easily or eagerly. He accepted the need for copyrights and
patents, but strictly limited in extent and time.

The aim always was to enrich the public domain