It was still your original idea.* It's just that other people
   had the same original idea too. Toughest time I had coming to
   terms with that was when I had an invention for a proximity
   detector for cars involving webcams and sensors.* I sketched it
   all out, got the money ready for the patent process. Then... I
   searched on the USPTO.* This was in 2000. Six months prior, the
   exact idea was patented by a Japanese guy in California. We had
   the same great original idea.* He just got there first.* Very
   humbling* - not only to realize that my original was also
   someone else's original, but also that it's ok that things are
   like that. It was also the last time I tried to patent an idea,
   although I always search... JUST in case.