And Bernd Korz of Yellowtab totally had an agreement with Palm regarding the licensing of Be Inc IP.
Right up until Palm turned around and pimp slapped him when they decided that the direction he was taking wasn't to their liking...
That's the danger, license can be revoked.
Unless it is in writing, there is no proof of an agreement.
Depends on the law of the land, Belgium, might be meaningless to have a verbal agreement, FL has a limited time (it's either 30 or 60 days) where verbal agreements are binding, if you can prove it was said.
And with regard use, it is technically illegal if you aren't licensed to trade under a brand not your own.
It's technically illegal if the IP owners says it is. If it's fine with the IP owner, it's not illegal.
As you say however it would require the owners to act before it would be enforced unless it was a big ass company whose brand you were selling under.
As someone who got stung by Korz, I would never, ever again knowingly place myself in a situation of buying potentially infringing products.
I wouldn't have done it either, but I side on prudent and reasonable risk taking. Barry has crawled too far out on that limb for my liking but if he and the IP owners are happy, good for him.
Until Barry gets a licence sorted. Steer well clear.
For end users, it's not going to matter a hill of beans. Resellers, OTOH, should take notice to stay away from that tar baby.