Possibly.....but it also wouldn't work. The ramp is what flips the bullets to the proper orientation.
Yeah....and almost all of that stuff is still available. Some items were aggregated in to the original download but they can still be found individually.
No clue. It would seem like this would be the case, but when it comes to things like this the copyright and patent laws are not really executed "fairly". You have to prove your innocence.
IANAL, but it seems that DAA's patent applies to this design when used in home reloading. From my understanding the DAA MBF is substantially similar to a ton of other devices in how it operates, including bullet collators used in the ammo production industry.
I would be willing to wager that their patent could be successfully challenged. But......
You need to realize that such a challenge would probably be $300K to start and according to my sources average $600K-$750K for smaller claims and the cost just goes up from there, and I sincerely doubt that AmmoMike has the free time and energy to devote to something like that on principle alone. It is a massive undertaking. Years in court. And DAA has the benefit of having somewhat deep pockets. I don't know what AmmoMike does for a living, but chances are somewhat good that DAA has a wee bit bigger bank account than he does. I could be wrong. He could be independently wealthy. But cease and desist letters work because there is the underlying threat of "We will keep you tied up in court until you are completely broke and destitute" behind them. Not that this is right and just, it is just the way that it is.
I briefly discussed the issue with my lawyer and he thought that there would be a pretty good case to be made that there is prior art and also that the patenting of a simple ramp would probably be an easy patent to break but that it would cost too much for anyone sane to attempt it just out of principle.
DAA are kind of jerks. I would never buy their products based on their reputation as to how they conduct themselves in situations like these. But I would be willing to wager that what got their feathers ruffles was that someone was printing and selling the design. If not for that it may have flown under the radar, or at least would have for a while longer.
TL;DR, it is my opinion that their patent is probably ******** but it would cost way too much to fight them on it.