David,
I wouldn't worry about it.
In the US they seem to patent everything, just so that sometime in the future they just might get a cut of the action.
My American boss used to check all my work, and go thru all my notes, just in case there was anything he could patent in there. As usually, there is a clause in your contract giving him all rights to your ideas and inventions while you are working for him in his factory.
Gates has most probably never done anything himself with regards to inventing, he just picks the best out of what his workforce comes up with, and he is then allowed to patent it.
In the UK it is very expensive to get a full patent, that is why such a lot of our ideas are stolen and produced elsewhere in the world. Also, unless you have a lot of cash behind you, they will just go ahead and produce, knowing full well that by the time you can stop them, they have flooded the market and made a killing, then disappeared into the night.
Someone has most probably filed a patent for bottling farts for use as a power source.
Bogs
