[sophacles]

I doubt that it will cost the company that much to remove the patent number. Packaging changes all the time. Seriously name one product that uses the same packaging it did 17 years ago.

As for patent number stamped on the product itself, I bet if the company took the stamping tool off the machine, or filled in the patent number part of the mold, it would cost a day or two and a few $K. I bet the law (judges, regulatory agencies, etc) would be willing to make exceptions for "if it was manufactured while the patent was valid, there is no need to retroactively remove the number.

Your other points -- general advice is to not look into patents when creating things, seriously google it. Consumers don't care about the patent, but that is a strawman. Consumers do care about shady business practices, which this falls under.

As for why the lawyer should get money? He is willing to look for the violations of the law, he can get rewarded for it. Further, it is probably far more efficient than the amount tax money the USPTO would waste enforcing this poorly.