Posted by Joey Shackworth on May 28, 1998 at 22:07:28:
If a ball which is commonly used in a sport that has
been around for 500 years is originally made of bamboo,
and a company comes up with a synthetic version of it,
and the sport comes to rely on this synthetic version,
and the Patent holder is also an officer in the international governing
body of the sport, is this illegal because the international
governing body sabotages any other company's efforts
at promoting a different ball? Is there any way to get around this patent?
Is there any way to force a patent holder to allow someone else to make a patented product and pay royalties?