About five years ago, my aunt had a brilliant idea. After two pregnancies of her own, and years of watching women at the beach dig holes in the sand to become a nest to their eggs, she decided to pursue a chair with a hole in it. She received a patent for it. I helped her  market it.  She was on CNN, in the New York Times, and I thought it was sure to be a hit. Why not?

Two years later, someone filed the same patent, but with snaps instead of velcro, or something else just as open ended. Regardless, I’m looking through a Brookstone magazine today and I see it. It gave me one of those sinking, “your legs need amputation” feelings.

Last night, a friend of mine is telling me about his buddy that filed a patent of his own. He’s pursued distribution and sealed a deal with a tire rim company, get this, to cut disco balls in half and spin ‘em like  Sprewells.  Why not!