I couldn't agree more! The unfortunate thing is this is at complete juxtaposition to what Patents were originally supposed to provide - levelling the playing field so that even a basement inventor can protect their invention with the same legal enforcement as "the big guys". -marc On 7/10/09, Chris McSweeny wrote: > On Fri, Jul 10, 2009 at 10:31 PM, Peter wrote: >> How exactly one can patent something that has been used for ages in the >> mining >> and aerospace industries at least, even disregarding efficiency issues and >> so >> on, is jus beyond my comprehension. I found the patent while looking for >> my own >> page on google. > > Because the US patent office would appear not to do any checking at > all for prior art - preferring to make their money on the application > whether or not it's actually valid, and then let people fight it out > in the courts. Far from the first example of this I've seen - the > system is basically broken. > -- > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > -- Sent from my mobile device -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist