We need a way to encourage innovation and patents do work for that. The issue is not patent per see, the issue is the US patent office.

There is next to zero proper due diligence done for a patent to be awarded and there is no consequence to the office for issuing invalid patents. Just significantly raising examination fees, getting the patent office on the hook for issuance of invalid patents and fining companies filling for frivolous patents would solve most if not all of the current issues.

I leave investigating why it's not done as an exercise to the reader.