[citation][nom]dimar[/nom]...When that patent expires (after 5 years, for example), whoever continues the work, should credit the original creators. But nobody should be able to sue anyone, or pay any fees, as long as the right people's names are credited, as the original creators + those who worked on improving it.[/citation]
This is how patents already work - they expire after 24 years. In the tech world, this is a lifetime. In other worlds, like pharmaceuticals, this is short. It takes upwards of 5-10 years for a drug to get discovered, just as long to get it through human trials, and by then there is only like 4-6 years of actual useful patent defense for the company to recover it's money and make profit.
The business of technology has changed greatly in the last 30 years, but the patent laws need to catch up. Perhaps grant varying patent lengths for different industries? Some kind of innovation in the patent law is needed, because we can all agree the absurdities of patent trolls buying technology simply to take money from other people.