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To be perfectly, lucidly clear: I agree 100% with the argument that you shouldn't be able to patent something that already exists. No. Nobody - don't care who - should be allowed to squat on ideas that make the world go 'round. But your grappling with complications is entirely related to "how things are" vs. "how things should be."

"How things are" has sucked ass in patent law for a while now. And I don't see it getting better any time soon. And the guys that get the most advantage out of it? They're the ones who give no fucks about international opinion.