I have been thru this issue before, with the letter from the laywer and everything. The person had a design patent, and it was applied for under false statements. If the bait has been in circulation for a year before the patent was applied for, and used in any public documents, and in the pattent application they are asked this, and they do not disclose the correct information, then the patent can be challenged. This was the case, and I challenged the person with my own lawyer (of course I had to do all the searching though), and he backed down and basically never contacted me again. So, there are issues where if someone was to do the research, and it was public knowledge, then they may not have a problem with winning the case. So, they need to apply for the patent before it is in the public.......
