I'm French, now living/workin in the US and I'm not too sure I agree with you. Did you know that even small businesses when they register at "Chambre du commerce" they usually protect their IP/Name through INPI. That's like the first thing they do even if it's a food truck. So for me IP protection is very present in our culture. Same for the companies I worked for we usually submit patent to USPTO before EPO.
Please do not confuse IP protection with the patent system. For example I love the copyright system while I hate the patent system. You don't copy code accidentally and to use your example - it's still relatively easy to research if names are already used and you don't have to do that often.
But you have a really hard time figuring out if you break some patents while developing software. Even lawyers and courts often have a hard time figuring out if something steps on a patent or not. As software developer where you develop new things every day you can basically only close your eyes and code on hoping you don't trigger too many patent mines. Patents belong as little in writing software as they belong in writing other things like books, articles or speeches.
I'm French too. You're talking trademark. It's OK to protect your name. Actually, patents themselves are OK in a lot of domains, when you are patenting a specific process, the concrete, multi-step application of an idea. The problem with software/business patents is that you're usually patenting an idea.
Take it another way. Write software in the US, and as soon as you're making money, you run the risk of being sued by a patent troll in Eastern Texas. Write software in France, you run no such risk (some would even maliciously say that you don't run the risk of making money).
Even though the USPTO is responsible for both patents and trademarks, there is a big difference between the two. A food truck protecting its name would be obtaining a trademark, not a patent.
