Agreed; "patented" or "patent-pending" is better read as "immediately stop reading this, cast the entire concept out of your mind, and don't ever think about th

Agreed; "patented" or "patent-pending" is better read as "immediately stop reading this, cast the entire concept out of your mind, and don't ever think about this general problem-domain again, or we might be able to sue you or your employer if you compete with us by inventing exactly the 'wrong' algorithm/concept/thing/etc. And certainly avoid reading our patent, or we can definitely sue you for competing with us.".