A new client was referred to me this week by a patent attorney.
My client has been accused of infringing a patent, and US$500k is being sought. My client was not aware of the patent, but had sought to buy the product from the Taiwanese manufacturer, but was told that an exclusive deal with another wholesaler prevented it, so my client sourced a similar product from China. There is serious doubts about the validity of the patent, but even if there were a patent infringement, an account of profits would be less than US$50, so I requested full details of the alleged losses yesterday. The company involved owes my client more than US$50k as a result of credits due for other returned products, having bought over $1 million worth of products from the claimant, and has already offered to pay a royalty. The manufacture is not being pragmatic. My client is upset and has sourced alternative products from China, so he does not need to deal with this manufacturer anymore.
Given that situation, I am hopeful of an amicable settlement with my client continuing to trade with this manufacturer.