Posted on 09/24/2024 8:15:21 PM PDT by fishtank
"Phyllis Schlafly cared very deeply about patents. Patents protect inventors and entrepreneurs alike, encouraging them to get creative and make new products. We all reap the benefits of our patent system every day. Patents are the safeguard that provides fertile soil for innovation to flourish. Amazon, however, does not care about patents.
One brand you may have heard of recently is Ridge Wallet. The creator, Sean Frank, holds a patent for the ultra-thin wallet design. He has been very successful, which has allowed him to run more ads. With success comes jealousy, though, and with jealousy comes copy-catting. Many on the site are selling knock-offs of his wallet design.
In a thread on X, Sean details his discontent with the way Amazon has treated his brand, which has brought in millions in revenue for the website. He points out that Amazon is rife with copyright and patent violations, but the company does nothing about it because it brings in ad revenue."
(Excerpt) Read more at phyllisschlafly.com ...
Amazon’s business model is largely theft.
They probably should not get involved in patent disputes. But they generally do have brand protections for trademark holders. One problem is that trademarks are jurisdictional so if you have a US trademark it may not be protected by Amazon outside the US.
He needs to learn that patents are a lousy way to protect a product like a wallet. There will always be imitators, and it’s hard to find a patent that will concretely protect your idea adequately. If he’s really wants to go against imitators, he’s going to have to sue then individually in patent court. In the clothing industry, there is little protection against knock offs of your fancy dress or whatever.
Far better to focus on design and trademarks. He’s barking up the wrong tree.
It’s a double edged sword.
For example, there are now Chinese entities who obtain design patents that cover products that have long been on the market. Design patents are easier to obtain as the examination process is often not as rigorous as it is for utility patents. It is certainly easier to beat the prior art.
With said patent in hand, they go to Amazon and file a complaint. Amazon in turn sends a letter to the seller.
The options include withdrawing the product or producing evidence that you have reached an agreement with the patent holder which evidence the seller must produce. A due date is given or the product listing will be withdrawn from Amazon. Shortly thereafter, a letter will usually arrive from the Chinese entity (with some token US address) offering to settle. Either that or the patent holder’s knock off products appear on Amazon.
Ironic, the patent holder is actually the counterfeiter.
Amazon has a process (APEX) or neutral patent evaluation process. But that process will only consider ownership and non-infringement as defenses AND doesn’t apply to, you guessed it, Design Patents. Oh yah, you can argue that your product has been listed for sale before the patent ever issued but they aren’t obligated to consider that.
IP bump for later....
It costs $$ to prosecute, and Amazon has more of it.
Customers love Amazon’s cheap prices. Why pay, for example, $21 each for genuine Schrader TPMS sensors from Rockauto when you can buy counterfeit garbage ones for half the price ($40 for a set of 4) from Amazon?
I’ll tell you why the more expensive sensors are worth it. They’re simply made better and will last longer.
It’s Bill Gates got rich too. In his early years he ripped off a lot of programers.
Gotta weigh the installation labor cost as well.
If it is a part that takes hours to install the “cheaper” knock-off will end up becoming more expensive at the NEXT replacement.
And to donate big dollars to those who wish to destroy our 2A and other rights.
I made one purchase over a decade ago, never another.
They can get stuffed, they will never see another penny from me!
And she is germane to this topic because...?
Regards,
Because the website is phyllisschlafly.com?
Good that she included a link to the product.../s
Bob Saccamano can now copy and sell these. He will even throw in a tip calculator with each sale.
"We gonna snatch up that patent and lower your drug/whatever costs. Yeah, we can do it cuz we the government." Que-Mala Harris.
Remarks by President Trump on Prescription Drug Prices
HEALTHCARE
Issued on: October 25, 2018
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Washington, D.C.
2:14 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Thank you. It’s a big day. It’s a very important day. (Applause.) Thank you. Please.
Thank you very much, Secretary Azar, for your tremendous leadership. This really is an important day for me. I’ve been talking about drug price reductions for a long time. And now we’re doing things that nobody was, let’s say — because I’m speaking on behalf of all of us — bold enough to do. And they’re going to have a tremendous impact.
I also want to thank FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb. Scott — stand up, Scott. You’ve done such an incredible job. Really, an incredible job. (Applause.) And CMS Administrator Seema Verma for joining us. Seema, thank you very much. Seema, great job. Great job. (Applause.)
I’m thrilled to be here at the Department of Health and Human Services, and I want to thank everybody. I understand that it’s been decades since the last President came here. And I’m very surprised that President Obama didn’t come here for Obamacare. Explain that one to me. (Laughter.) But he didn’t.
But it’s a great honor to be here. You do an incredible job. You really do an incredible job. So I thank you.
Since the day I took office, I have made reducing drug prices one of my highest priorities. Last year, the FDA approved more than 1,000 low-cost generics — the most in the history of our country. This year, we beat that record, approving even more generics. These new approvals are leading to cheaper competitive alternatives for lifesaving drugs like the EpiPen, saving Americans almost $9 billion a year last year alone.
Since releasing my drug pricing blueprint in May, 16 drug companies reduced their list prices, rolled back increases, or froze their prices for the rest of the year. We called a few of those companies recently, where they raised their prices, and I guess maybe it was one of the times that I realized how powerful the presidency is, because they immediately rolled their prices back to where they started. And those companies know who we’re talking about, and we appreciate it very much.
Earlier this month, I signed two bills to lower the cost of prescription drugs: the “Know the Lowest Price Act” — “Know the Lowest Price Act,” it’s a big thing — and the “Patient Right to Know Act.” And, by the way, put those two together and you have a complicated deal. (Laughter.) Sounds simple, but that one is not. Ending the unjust gag clauses once and for all — where you’d go into a drugstore and the pharmacist wouldn’t even be allowed to talk about alternatives or pricing. How ridiculous is that? Think of it — how ridiculous. That’s not going to take place anymore. And, actually, the pharmacists are very happy about it.
Patients now have the right to know the lowest price and most affordable alternative available at their pharmacy.
Today, we are here to announce another bold and historic action to bring down the price of prescription drugs. With the action I am unveiling today, the United States will finally begin to confront one of the most unfair practices — almost unimaginable that it hasn’t been taken care of long before this — that drives up the cost of medicine in the United States.
We’re taking aim at the global freeloading that forces American consumers to subsidize lower prices in foreign countries through higher prices in our country. And I’ve seen it for years, and I never understood. Same company, same box, same pill, made in the exact same location. And you’ll go to some countries, and it would be 20 percent the cost of what we pay, and in some cases much less than that.
And I’d say, “Why is this?” I never knew that I would be able to stand here before you and have a chance to fix it. And that’s what we’re doing. We’re fixing it. That’s called “real-life experience,” I guess.
For decades, other countries have rigged the system so that American patients are charged much more — and in some cases much, much more — for the exact same drug. In other words, Americans pay more so that other countries can pay less. Very simple. That’s exactly what it is. It’s wrong. It’s unfair. It’s not surprising. I’ve seen trade deals where it’s far more costly to us than even this. And we’re changing them also.
Foreign countries even threaten to disrespect our patents if they are not given cheaper prices on drugs. So they’re not going to even look at the patents. They’ve been very, very disrespectful, previously, to our country and to all of the things that we stand for. And especially, they would disrespect patents when it came to American-made drugs.
The American middle class is effectively funding virtually all drug research and development for the entire planet. So we are paying for it. We are subsidizing it. Everybody else is benefitting. And they are paying nothing toward research and development.
The world reaps the benefits of American genius and innovation, while American citizens — and especially our great seniors, who are hit the hardest — pick up the tab. But no longer.
Here are just a few examples: For one eye medication that helps prevent blindness, Medicare pays over $1 billion dollars a year. If we paid the prices other nations pay, we’d bring the $1 billion down to $187 million dollars a year. It’s pretty amazing, isn’t it?
We spend more than $1 billion a year on two drugs to treat bone disease, but we could save more than $800 billion [million] dollars — think of that — $800 billion [million] saving for our seniors by paying the prices other countries pay. Nothing special — just the prices that other countries pay. That’s the way the United States has been disrespected for too long in too many ways.
One common cancer drug is nearly seven times as expensive for Medicare as it is for other countries. This is a highly used and very effective drug. And it’s seven times more expensive. Not fair. This happens because the government pays whatever price the drug companies set without any negotiation whatsoever.
Not anymore. Under our new plan, the Department of Health and Human Services would allow Medicare to determine the price it pays for certain drugs based on the cheaper prices paid by other nations. Some people call it “favored nations clauses.” We have them in business. We have them in a lot of different contracts that I’ve seen over the years and been part of. “Favored nations” — so think of that.
So, we’re paying a price based on the price that other nations are paying. That’s what we’re going to pay. No longer seven times more. No longer 10 times, 11 times, even 12 times more — I’ve seen examples of paying the same price. I’m talking about billions and billions of savings to people. To people.
We will no longer accept the inflated prices being charged to our seniors. I had a congressman — respected congressman — come to the Oval Office and say, “Sir, for my constituents, drug pricing is more important than healthcare.” And I said, “Explain that to me.” But he actually said “drug prices” — I’ve never forgotten the expression — “drug pricing.” We know how important healthcare is. “Drug pricing is even more important for my constituents.”
At long last, the drug companies and foreign countries will be held accountable for how they rigged the system against American consumers.
This is a revolutionary change. Nobody has had the courage to do it, or they just didn’t want to do it. And this is a change for the people. This is not a change for industry or for companies or for pharma. This is a change for the people. It will be substantially a reduction in drug prices for our people and our senior citizens. Tremendous, tremendous difference.
Our plan will also fix a broken payment system where doctors are reimbursed more if they prescribe a much more expensive drug. Under our new proposed payment system, doctors will be paid a flat rate — and when you think of it, it’s like being a contractor or anything else — if it’s an expensive drug or a less expensive drug, it’s the same. Doesn’t take any more.
And I think this will be good in terms of the pricing of the drug; it’d be fantastic for that. But it will also be much better for patients and it very well may be better for doctors.
This follows other significant actions that we have taken to protect Medicare for our great seniors. We have given the plans that serve more than 45 million seniors on Medicare Part D and 20 million seniors on Medicare Advantage new tools to negotiate lower prices.
Thanks to our actions, this year, premiums for both Medicare Part D and Medicare Advantage have — and I’ll give you a word that you haven’t ever heard — ever heard — have “gone down.” (Laughter.) You’ve never heard that word. (Applause.)
True. True. Gone down. And now they’re going to go substantially down.
Sadly, a majority of Democrats in the House of Representatives have co-sponsored a very socialist healthcare plan that would destroy Medicare, terminate Medicare Advantage, and outlaw the employer-sponsored healthcare plans of 157 million Americans.
We think that they’re going to actually come along with us when they see what we’re doing. We think. We hope. It’s something that makes no sense any other way. So we really think that can be bipartisan. It happened to be a Democrat that told me how important drug pricing was. It wasn’t a Republican in this case; it was a Democrat.
Under this administration, we will always protect Medicare for our great seniors. And we will always protect Americans with preexisting conditions. Always.
In every action we take, we are putting America first. And this is very much about putting America first. We get tired of having people go to other countries to literally fill prescriptions. And you know where I’m talking about.
We’re fighting for lower drug prices, which will now be automatic. It will be automatic and very substantial. Lower premiums, where we’ve done a really good job with healthcare in bringing the premiums down to a much lower level — much more acceptable level. And we’re going to be soon announcing some things that will really have a tremendous and positive impact on healthcare also. And better healthcare, very importantly, for every single American.
So I just want to thank everybody in this room. You’re outstanding people. I know how hard you work. I know how important your work is, how brilliant your work has to be, and how complex a job you have. You have a very complex job. You have everything. You have probably every single element of life in the work you do.
But I just want to let you know, the American people very much appreciate — have great respect for you. I think they’ll even have more. That will go up very significantly when they see their drug prices falling. They’re going to say, “What’s happened? They must have made a mistake.” (Laughter.) It’s true. They’re going to go up to the counter; they’re going to say, “Did you make a mistake?” Some won’t say that, they’ll just think it. (Laughter.) And some might say, “Did you make a mistake?” But you’re going to see a big reduction.
I want to thank everybody very much. It’s an honor to be here. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
Amazon’s mission is to make it easy to sell stuff, like on a street corner.
Amazon succeeds because they’ve removed friction from transactions.
I’m sure that success breeds knock-offs and patent violators.
But why would it be Amazon’s responsibility to oversee patent enforcement on their platform?
The wallet guy should sue competitors that violate his patent.
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