7/29    I have an idea and I wanna patent it. Has anyone done it? How did
        it go?
        \_ There are two kinds of patents.  The bullshit kind that big corps
           swap with each other that aren't written with the intent of ever
           seriously enforcing them, and the kind that are written to be
           enforced.  The typical slashdot idiot doesn't understand this and
           mistakes the former for the latter.  Ok, off my high horse.  Anyway,
           getting a useful patent that can be enforced requires very expensive
           searches for prior art and very expensive and experienced patent
           lawyers who can write a quality patent that will stand up in court.
           Assuming you've got the $20k or more to do all this, you're still
           not out of the woods because it can easily take *millions* of
           dollars in court costs to go after Generic Big Corp when they steal
           your shit.  If you want to know more post your email and I'll write
           you, but pretty much patents aren't for little people.