

Sadly the key to avoiding becoming a victim of these tactics is to spend a significant portion of your time shopping around for everything. No retailer can be trusted. I preferentially order stuff from manufacturers webpages or compare multiple distributors before I buy anything.
I also utilize VPN services and a secondary browser if I think they are playing games. You can avoid this shit but it’s not easy.
I also try to completely avoid known companies who’s business model relies on these tactics.
All existing U.S. patents, trademarks, and copyrights are are permanently invalid. Gotta put some teeth into it.