Re: Sure smells like apple innovation in here
Let me do this one again, extreme yes, but it gets the point across to the less educated.
Scenario:
I'm at home and accidental, or through hard work, discover a way to make a home cold fusion reactor for £100, paving the way for cheap energy for everyone.
The prototype will cost £10 million to make, for some reason the bank won't let me lend that much money.
So I send my idea off to robdogbastards & co who think it's a great idea, say thank you very much and go ahead not only make the prototype, but make billions of pounds when it goes into production. However I'm left penniless and suicidal.
Now if I had patented it (this is the point you need to grasp), robdogbastards & co have a choice, they can offer to buy the patents for a hefty sum, or they can go into production, and I sue the living daylights out of them. So in theory, I get my my money.
That's what Patents were invented for.