How can you be in any way even remotely sure that no one else had ever thought of it. That seems extremely unlikely. I'd bet there are countless examples of sp

How can you be in any way even remotely sure that no one else had ever thought of it. That seems extremely unlikely. I'd bet there are countless examples of spring loaded clamps holding wood in cutters, and countless examples of blade hiding/dust removal boxes. This isn't rocket science. I think you mean "... and before anyone else bothered to patent it and try and get people to pay royalties".