All this imagination is amazing to me as a person who actually works in the display industry. It is like someone walked into a sports car showroom and announced that these cars are too expensive because of patents and it has nothing to do with volume and actual cost of iron and rubber. And then a bunch of other people all agreed with them and started blogging about it. Because that's what I see happening here. I wonder when someone like this will walk into an Apple showroom and start exclaiming that these apple products are all too expensive because of patents and not because of other factors.
As for Wacom and Stratasis, I have no idea since I don't work in those industries. But I've never seen convincing proof put forth. Circumstantial sure, but clear data that would convince me that "Stratasis used FDM patents to block all progress in 3d printing" doesn't seem to be available.
Now finally a few years ago their patents finally lapsed, forcing them to finally compete with other companies on price and quality.
End result - affordable 13 inch pen displays available at about third to quarter of the old Wacom price from multiple vendors.
I can only imagine the situation is similar if the original E-ink developers managed to patent all the necessary technologies to bloc everybody else.
Same thing for 3D printing - it only really took off once Stratasis could no longer milk their FDM patents to block all progress in affordable 3D printing area.