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Don't forget T-shirt sales, coffee mugs, mouse pads and souvenir plates and spoons
Often the legal battle is won by the side with deeper pockets. I know 3 - 4 people who lost just because of inability to keep up with the expense of fighting the battle.
I recall many years ago, a guy who specialized in grabbing up expiring patents (he even grabbed Dr. Axelrod's Fish Atlas from underneath the author) discovered there was no actual patent on the Styrofoam ice chests that used to be so popular.
He swooped in, patented the design/concept, then went around and collected a fortune from infringement lawsuits. He pretty much killed off the styrofoam ice chest industry with that stunt.
I recall many years ago, a guy who specialized in grabbing up expiring patents (he even grabbed Dr. Axelrod's Fish Atlas from underneath the author) discovered there was no actual patent on the Styrofoam ice chests that used to be so popular.
He swooped in, patented the design/concept, then went around and collected a fortune from infringement lawsuits. He pretty much killed off the styrofoam ice chest industry with that stunt.
You can't patent an already-existing design. Anyone who was manufacturing would have been able to claim (rightly) that they had come up with the design.
Those bins are pretty readily available around here.