The law suit is over! Harrah harrah! So what’s the damage? Well the bad news is apparently I was infringing on trademarks unknowingly. While the fact that I didn’t know WOULD help me in a court of law, i would still most likely have to pay something. It’s very frustrating because the law, for all its specific wording, is still quite subjective and changes based on the situation. Thusly, the judges have a lot of power in what damages are awarded. So there’s no way to just say, well you sold this many products, you’ll owe this much money. The judge could say $2000, he could say $50,000. It’s just a guestimation on the lawyers part based on what has been judged in similar situations in the past.
Because of this, I finally settled with them at $7500. I know, that’s quite a bit of money. But it’s better than the $20,000 they were wanting originally. I’m trying to be positive about it, but it’s a real backslide. All of my tax refund and most of my cash back from the escrow account is now gone. On the upside, my life is back to normal. No more worrying what my blog says or what I put on twitter and so on. Plus I didn’t lose any of my current worth, I just have no additional reserves. Not until next year when I can write this off as a business expense… maybe. I’ll have to look into that.