But you CAN patent an idea, even a simple one. Depositing material
on decal film to represent rivets -- might be patentable. Far less
original ideas have been granted patents. (For example, Verizon
-patented- the idea of using a phone number to look up an internet
address. Nevermind that this was totally unoriginal -- they got the
patent and used it to sue Vonage and other competitors.)

Tim O'Connor