[sdiy] Patents

[Ralph]

> Has anyone here ever patented anything? Was it worth the money/effort?

I have two patents. I think they have dampened the spirits of my competition a bit. However in a hostile takeover that had me ejected from my company, I found myself being sued over patent infringement of my own patents. I was not infringing them (Iwrote them- who better to break them) but the lawsuit's main task was simply to drain my resources (which it did admirably) rather then to actually come to a conclusion (it was dropped).

So, until the takeover occurred, they were a good thing.

Postscript: being the age of the Internet, my customers came to my rescue and caused the hostile takeover to fail! The easiest way out for the other side was to give the company back to me, although saddled with a promissory note. 

Crazy world.

-Ralph