Patent Laws?

[chuck]

i think why the royalties are paid at the retail level is that the  propriety rights extend to only countries that patent rights were applied to and you can only have property rights in countries that assist in enforcing them.  maybe i'm wrong (i'm no attorney) but that's how i see it anyhow.

[Bill C.]

Just a few of points, being an inventor with a couple of patents myself, that you should keep in mind -- pertaining to U.S. Patent Law...

1.
A royalty needs only be paid to a patent owner one time on the item that is manufactured or sold.  If the manufacturer doesn't pay the patent owner the royalty on each item up front (and many if these manufacturers do not), then the distributor must pay a royalty on each sale.  (Some of these companies are acting as both manufacturer and distributor).  If you buy from one of these companies that have not paid a royalty, then, by law, YOU can't sell your item(s) to anyone without paying a royalty.  Your source (distributor) may tell you that they are paying the royalties, but you had better find out directly from the patent owner to be sure.

2.
Once a patent owner informs you of their patent and demands that you stop all manufacturing and sales, you become legally  responsible for all royalties from that point forward, no matter if you sell 1, 10, or 500 items at a time.  Selling past that point is considered to be intentional infringement, and you will not only have to pay ALL back royalties to the patent owner, but the courts will also impose a huge fine against you if you are sued and lose in court.  You will also have to pay a lot of money for a lawyer to defend you in court -- and will also most likely have to pay back the patent owner's legal fees for their lawyer if you lose the case.

3.
Ebay will not protect you.  You are still breaking the law if caught and sued.

4.
U.S. patent law is very powerful.  If I invent a new seat belt buckle and Swedish Airlines is using it in their planes, I can legally prevent their planes from entering the U.S. if I am not receiving a royalty from someone for each of those buckles that are manufactured and sold/used.

5.
It is part of capitalizm.  Designed to help the little guy (inventor/patent owner) make some money on an idea he/she thought of -- and others also want want to make money from as well.  It's only fair.  iTunes pays a royalty to every song writer whose song you download to your ipod - and adds that to your cost for downloading a song.  You'd want to be paid, too, if you wrote that song.

Bill C.