> I’m a bit skeptical of this for a few reasons. If Amazon is in breach of contract then why is PopSockets not taking them to court? What is the gray market in

> I’m a bit skeptical of this for a few reasons. If Amazon is in breach of contract then why is PopSockets not taking them to court? What is the gray market in this case? Buying a product similar from a different company? That just seems like a smart business tactic, IMO The "gray market" indicate cheap knock-offs of new products. For example, literally days after Tile released their bluetooth powered device locators, you could find cheaper knock-offs from China. These products may very well infringe Tile's patents and trademarks, but proving infringement in court takes years and costs millions of dollars. Even if you win, during that time many other knock-off manufacturers will pop up and you'll have to start all over. At that point your company will be dead. Intellectual property litigation is simply not strong enough to protect smaller companies. So a threat to go to the gray market from Amazon, can effectively spell the doom for your company. As an aside, while this is a problem for small companies, larger companies can usually afford to wage these large IP litigation campaigns. A good example is Bosch which sells patented windshield wiper blades. There are numerous knock-offs from China, but Bosch goes to war with each and every one. Eventually, Bosch starts earning a reputation and the knock-offs slow down. But this takes many years of heavy investment in IP enforcement and never entirely goes away. It only makes sense at very large scales, no small company could take on this burden.