“…I tried to patent an idea that seemed novel…. The idea was compelling enough to lead me to a lawyer, who performed a search for about $900. Soon thereafter I was informed that there were no patents resembling my idea, so we went ahead and filed an application. This part of the process ultimately cost me an additional $4,600. Sad to say, the patent examiners rejected my application unearthing six patents that were awfully similar to the one I proposed. My lawyer’s gofers had simply fallen down on the job. Too bad, tough luck, goodbye $5,500.”

David Lindsay, The Patent Files: Dispatches from the Frontiers of Invention (1999) The Lyons Press.