Re: Genuine Question
A quick poke-about on the 'net indicates what I am thinking of may have been the idea of filing a Provisional Patent, with no follow-up to turn it into an actual patent, leaving the 'art' in their database.
"The Encyclopedia any Idiot can Edit" also describes Defensive Publication: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defensive_publication , though I don't think that would get you out of the need for eventually lawyering up in the modern patent offices' "throw it at the wall and see if it sticks" attitude to prior art.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
