Hi David, > It is like patenting a colour. > It will not happen. > If it does happen it is wrong, and you can sue me. Well, now, that's an interesting point. In fact UPS (the United Parcel Service) has an American trademark on the color brown. Yes, I know it's not a "patent," but it's the same sort of thing, really. I think I recall Steinway having a patent on the angle at which their capstans sit. There are a lot of stupid patents out there on some really obvioius things or some things that are obviously public domain. Remember Dan Franklin and his patented duplex scale adjustment tool? It was nothing more than an implement to bump/shove duplex bars/aliquottes into place, with nothing particularly "unobvious" about it. And yet he was awarded a patent. If I were to invent some wonderful widget and market it for 10 years, you could still probably get a patent on *my* widget. One would think that the design of my widget would be pretty "obvious," once marketed for 10 years. But alas, you could probably get away with being awarded that patent. In fact I have known instances in which the same exact thing was patented twice by two different individuals, even while the first patent was still active. It's all completely bogus. In the end, a patent is only as good as its ability to hold up to a challenge in court. In many/most cases, that comes down to how much money the respective parties have to argue their cases. I understand the average patent infringement suit costs both sides about $250,000. (Well, it's probably higher now.) That's why the Sony Trinitron picture tube came into production long ago, without a penny of royalties or even acknowledgment paid to the man who invented and patented it -- a professor at Texas Tech University. Eventually he was able to sue and win, but it was a long and bloody battle, and he didn't win nearly what he should have. The only rule is that the little guys get tromped on by the big guys. Anyone can patent anything, for a small price, but the patent doesn't really matter, unless you have the financial wherewithall *and* the legal theory/basis to back it up. Peace, Sarah
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