Excellent points. My experience is no further than a DIY provisional patent, using "Patent It Yourself" (which seems a little bit unreliable to me). A danger I

Excellent points. My experience is no further than a DIY provisional patent, using "Patent It Yourself" (which seems a little bit unreliable to me). A danger I've found with patenting is that it encourages a competitor-focus (attack and defend), instead of a customer-focus (making a difference, creating something needed). Patenting has similarities to a research thesis - articulating the idea helps you understand it; researching prior art contributes to your store of ideas.