Patent Ponderings

[tcepsa]

I think I've asked this before, but I can't remember where or when or what the answer was, so I'll post it again:

Say you invent something that you want anybody in the world to be able to use, and you want to make sure that nobody else tries to put a patent or copyright or anything like that on the design. Can you file for an Anti-Patent or something? Is there some sort of established procedure for ensuring this? (Can the GPL--Gnu Public License--be extended to mechanical blueprints, and would it accomplish the above purpose?)

Comments

[free-of-whip.livejournal.com]

This one is a smoke and carbon monoxide detector. So you'd also have to have a policy of, "Don't allow any gases to escape." :-P