Patent marking winner: "I was not victorious in a sense, because it cost me $80,000"

Sal Herman of Hold Up Suspender won his patent marking case, but he considers the case a holdup:

"I was not victorious in a sense, because it cost me $80,000. My wife calls it extortion and I just call it injustice. It just wasn't right, not the American way of legal action."

The Detroit Free Press noted:

The case was dismissed in the U.S. District Court in March in Detroit after the plaintiff, Akron-based Unique Product Solutions, saw a similar case dismissed in federal court in Cleveland. The judge there concluded that the False Marking Statute was unconstitutional, because it gives criminal law-enforcement power to private entities without any U.S. Department of Justice control.