I am depressed ...

Original ideas are nice, but are by no means necessary to start a successful business. Air bnb and Facebook are a couple successes that spring to mind that are really just an improvement on other original ideas. Truly most businesses (even in tech) are just a better mousetrap. Ignore patents and don't overly focus on coming up with the next big thing and concentrate on how you might execute something better. Better design, engineering, marketing... What do you bring I the table?

In fact, this may even help you approach a more original idea from a tangent or pivot from your original business.

Just look at PG's comments and essays. He looks for founders with potential more than he looks for mind blowing ideas.

Do not look up patents as a strategy. Its a whole different lawsuit if you infringed intentionally (and you don't want to get there). If it ever gets to that, they can force you to disclose in discovery.

Just ignore patents. Patents are only good as their enforcer and if you did not know, it's much easier to work things out (give or take :)..

Once you grow, register your own stuff (you will have, trust me), every idea can have a lot variations of claims that were not claimed before. Get a good patent attorney and you'll be fine.

Friendster > MySpace > Facebook A million search engines > Google

You have to know your competition and your market, not run from them. As a matter of fact, most people will probably say that if there aren't competitors, there probably isn't a market.

But, if you still can't shake your depression over not having an original idea, go out and get a job, 'cuz you're not quite yet cut out for entrepreneurship.

You're giving up too easily.

If someone has already implemented your idea and built a business around it, analyze their business and see if you can provide something even better (it's also a good learning process anyway).

There's no rule stating you can't challenge them for a share of the market (or is there?).

Its much harder to execute an idea that has no proven business model. Much easier to see what the competition is doing, and do it better. Photo sharing is a crowded field, for example, but its one that some apps accelerate in growth while others remain stagnant. Just do it better.

I believe you should do it. I'm going through the same issue but I'll keep going, trying to execute it better. In the worst case, I'll learn something by doing that.

Thank you all for support. I am more frustrated than depressed. It was wrong choice of words.

What is you can provide far better service than the original one. You can attract your own customer base and give stiff competition. Good Luck