It's not discontinuous - that's just the theory behind patents. Patents give inventors a legal "cudgel" as the commenter before put it, which makes innovation more profitable. Patents are just a legal construct, the idea is that having a patent on an invention gives you access to legal tools to protect a temporary monopoly which makes innovation more profitable, so you don't have to worry about investing money in innovation and then losing all of your profits because of copycats. However well that actually works and whether or not it ends up being a net positive for innovation is a different question, but all a patent is is a legal tool to stop others from using or making money off of your innovation, as enforced through lawsuits in the court system.