Anyone know more details about this, and if it's been approved? My understanding is that everything that's part of a home wiring system (like this) needs to go through a bunch of test (UL, etc.) before it can legally be installed in a house - and that seems like a lot of work for a small-ish third-party accessory company to go though.
EDIT: Looks like it's not yet - from the ordering page, "This item is currently waiting on final UL Approval. It is scheduled to begin shipping in early 2010."
AFAIK they can patent it all they want, if it's introduced as an acceptable electrical standard (with the mass usage of USB devices, this possibly isn't too far off) then the patent means shit and there's little to no recourse the company can take.
The UL is a certification program, They can't really tell you what you can/can't install in your own home. They can't even tell you what you can/can't sell to someone else. The issue is that most distributors won't buy/sell things w/o UL approval (for good reason). I'd most certainly guess that the creators have had them in their home for some time.
When I worked in commercial electronics, it was very typical for engineers to install development products in their home, long before UL approval.
Depends; it would be reasonable for a dense city to still have restrictions since fire has a propensity to spread and if your place burns down, your neighbors' might too.
EDIT: Looks like it's not yet - from the ordering page, "This item is currently waiting on final UL Approval. It is scheduled to begin shipping in early 2010."