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Things would change if intellectual property law were scrapped, certainly, but it wouldn't be either cataclysmic or utopian. That is, of course, unless the removal of IP law was very sudden and without regard to consequences. If we were to just cut the head off the intellectual property beast tomorrow, the immediate problems would be widespread at first. We'd at least put hundreds of patent lawyers at IBM out of a job.

Assuming that it was handled in a somewhat organic manner, easing society into circumstances where "intellectual property" no longer has the meaning it does now, the benefits would be more long-term than short term. In the meantime, there would be both benefits and growing pains. I'm sure the growing pains would outnumber the benefits from time to time, but that's the nature of change: the same is true of keeping the system of patent and copyright law and continuing to add to it, as we have been, except that the end result toward which we're moving is decidedly negative.