Here is yet another dirty secret:
Owning a patent does NOT prevent others from using your idea. All it does is give you a license to sue them if they do. You might not think the difference is significant, but you would be wrong. Anybody who knows what they are doing would chuckle and mumble phrases like "prior art" and "obvious to a skilled practitioner of the trade" and tell you to go away. At this point, you will take a cold, hard look at the costs of defending your "rights", and you will very likely decide to take their advice.
