It's a patent on a hardware device. Its a whole different animal. Unlike software, they couldn't just patent "solar light that charges during they day" they cou

It's a patent on a hardware device. Its a whole different animal. Unlike software, they couldn't just patent "solar light that charges during they day" they could only patent their particular solar charging light. If someone were to disassemble their light and make molds of the parts and just start cranking out copies, they could stop them. It never even crosses their minds that they might try to use the patent to rent-seek everyone else on earth who wires together a solar cell, a battery and a light source. Ya, it's that different.