Yikes. This was an interesting find in my mailbox. From eBay, no less:

We regret to inform you that your listing:

1281294479 Palm/Handspring WriteRIGHT Screen Protectors

has been ended at the request of V.S. Protective Shield, a member of eBay’s Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) Program, because they filed a sworn statement that it offers a product or contains material which violates their copyright, trademark or other rights. In the interest of protecting all eBay users, we end such listings to avoid any association with potentially infringing or unlawful items.

It appears that, according to the patent information available on Mr. Warman’s web site, as well as from the information on his personal eBay page, that ConceptKitchen — who just went out of business — refused to enter a licensing agreement with Mr. Warman, thus making the sale of any WriteRIGHT screen protector unlawful unless the seller pays a licensing fee, even if seller is selling the product at a loss. I can’t remember how much I paid for these stupid things, but I’m sure that it was much more than $8.50, which was the going price at the time my auction was yanked.

Here are the patent claims, courtesy of Mr. Warman’s website: page 1, page 2, and page 3.

I wish I could read the full patent, but IBM no longer offers their patent database for free; it is now owned by the IBM-spin off Delphion. Speaking of which, I wonder how much they paid someone to come up with that name?

One more thing: the list of people on eBay’s VeRO list runs from the expected (RIAA, Adobe, Tupperware) to the bizarre (Cocteau Twins and The Ferret Company).

As for my much-maligned screen protectors… I’m sure they’ll make a lovely gift.