[dpcan]

Could a massive list like this help stop frivolous patents from being viable, or granted? Perhaps if all people could just add their ideas to this list, over time, we could prevent the ability for anyone to patent anything if the idea already existed.

Or do I still not understand patents?

Could this list exist at a stop-patents type website where even the patent office could do a quick search to see if an idea is unique and original, or has been thought of easily already and put on big list?

[nhumrich]

You dont understand patents. You cant patent an idea. You patent a specific way to do something. For example, you cant patent a mop, but you can patent a specific design of a mop, a way to build it. You cant patent encryption but you can patent an encryption algorithm. You cant patent "compressed video" but can patent a compression format. A patent requires a detailed writeup of how to do something.