I am with Wylie and the rest of you. I actually held a patent for a while (although it has long since expired due to non-maintenence) and the way we got it granted was through amendments.
If you apply for something that is too similar to something else, your attorney simply amends the specifications until the patent office clerk handling your case gives in and awards the patent. We went through seven amendment episodes before I got mine granted.
That is why a little tweak here or there can get the patent granted. But part of the reason I no longer pay the fees to maintain my patent is becasue there are many, Many, MANY similar things out there now that would be indefensible for me since I had to narrow my original application down with such specificity that it became useless...
Heatsinking to at least some degree is an inherent requirement to the mechanical success of any light, even an incandescent. It would be like someone trying to patent the fact a knife has to have a sharp edge in order to cut stuff...
Now to Design Patent a particular style/type/curvature/"design" of a knife blade's edge, now that might be another story altogether. But then to avoid patent infringement, knifemakers would simply make blades of a different shape...
