[jongjong]

Reminds me of how these days it's almost impossible to register a patent. Some of the techniques I used in some of my open source projects are probably just innovative enough to be patent-worthy but it's too expensive and the potential financial returns are unclear.

Tech nowadays is a two class system. The innovator needs to have a certain pedigree or else their innovations don't register.

[itronitron]

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12298575-patent-it-yours...

[darkclouds]

If you register a patent, you have to be able to protect it, which will require money and knowledge, and that is always something the people who could register patents don't always have, if they have even thought that far ahead.

[mrguyorama]

There is no requirement to defend a patent. There is a requirement to defend trademarks

[TheCleric]

Would you want to prevent others from using your techniques?

[MobiusHorizons]

Patents need not prevent others from using a technique. Licensing is a perfectly valid option and the terms need not be onerous. Some even provide free licensing.

As a child I wanted to be an inventor when I grew up, and to me that entailed patents. While I have now learned that inventing isn’t a job so much as something that might happen along the way, filing for a patent is firmly on my bucket list. I think many people consider a patent proof of some level of novelty or ingenuity. It is some measure of achievement and a status symbol.