I know a halyard from a sheet, thank you. But a better example is that I've run outdoors on a windy day, which virtually every person ever has done at least onc

I know a halyard from a sheet, thank you. But a better example is that I've run outdoors on a windy day, which virtually every person ever has done at least once. And yet the overwhelming majority never thought to use a spinnaker on a skateboard. All new inventions, every single one, are one or more old inventions composed together. The novelty lies in the composition, not the components. I share your antipathy toward software patents though. Mathematical theorems aren't patentable, and programs are just gussied up theorems so they shouldn't be either.