Having participated in the system as an inventor, I can confirm that this is unfortunately quite accurate. The patent lawyer was surprised that we sent a techni

Having participated in the system as an inventor, I can confirm that this is unfortunately quite accurate. The patent lawyer was surprised that we sent a technical expert who actually understood the invention to explain it to them, and seemed to find it a welcome and refreshing change from their usual clients. I really have read some other patents in the field. It turned out that some US universities like to patent maths before they publish it in papers or at conferences. I learned nothing new that the academic papers didn't already cover. The only result was that, fearful of committing wilful infringement, we avoided using anything resembling that entire area in any software associated with our invention. The lawyer advised me not to do that (read other patents) any more.