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In general, yes.
As I understand it, if a corporation does business in the US, then they'll end up paying royalties on all allegedly infringing products regardless of the destination country. So, for example, Android phone manufacturers pay $5 per phone to Microsoft even for phones sold in Asia.
"Nice phone you got there, be a real shame if something happened to it. Real shame."
Yes. But, not quite for the reason stated. A US patent only covers activities in the US. So, if a product is made, sold, offered for sale, exported from, or imported into the US, the product is subject to the US patent. For example, a product manufactured in Asia and sold in Europe even by a US company generally is not covered by a US patent barring odd circumstances (e.g., shipped through the US).
The reason it matters for the rest of the world is that the US is a sizable market. It's not uncommon for a company to simply forgo making a product if it's not able to sell such product in the US due to patent restrictions.




Member since:
2010-06-15
Do the rest of the world have to care about these insane US patens?