Which is why so many of them have taken on the mantle of social activism, articulating the social and political undercurrents debated in secret gatherings of Middle Eastern intellectuals through works that stand up and get noticed.
Turns out it was filed in the Eastern District of Texas, a hotbed for patent trolls who know that they stand a better-than-average chance of winning simply because of where their issues are being taken up.
But it is unclear where it will stand in the other big debate, between market-minded liberalisers, mainly in northern and eastern Europe, and the more dirigiste economies of the centre and south.