Most commenters seem unclear on how patents work in the US, so here's a brief summary: 1. Patents starts out as patent applications (what this document is). A

Most commenters seem unclear on how patents work in the US, so here's a brief summary: 1. Patents starts out as patent applications (what this document is). A patent application by itself doesn't give you any legal rights. 2. After waiting a year or more, your patent application gets reviewed by a USPTO examiner. The examiner either approves it and grants you a patent contingent on you paying a fee, or (more likely) tells you what's wrong with your patent application or cites prior art that already does what you claim and asks you to make changes. 3. All parts of the patent application except the claims section (which is the very last part) are for background and explanation only. They don't determine what you're patenting or whether someone is infringing your patent. These sections are supposed to be clear enough that someone with ordinary skill in whatever field your invention comes from could read these parts of your patent and reproduce your invention. 4. The claims section (which starts with "What is claimed is:") is very carefully worded to be as unambiguous as possible and carefully lay out exactly what the invention is and what its scope is. Any good patent agent or attorney will make these claims as broad as possible while still being patentable so that you get the broadest monopoly possible and have the greatest chance of successfully prosecuting an infringer. 5. The claims section is the only part that matters for determining infringement. The text in the rest of the patent and the figures show what the invention is so that someone can reproduce it, but they aren't used to determine the scope of your invention.