I do not think this is an issue. It is no different than using in your projects the FT232RL FTDI chip with their VID and PID. We can use Atmel's VIP and PID.
For those of us who want to do a few dozen clones and sell them on ebay there is hope! Am I missing something?

This is what Atmel has to say (you may google it):
Question
Can I use the VID and PID provided by Atmel ?
Answer
Customer may keep the Atmel Vendor Identifier (Atmel VID) and Product Identifier (PID) in their product that integrates an Atmel USB Flash Microcontroller ("Integrated Product") from one Atmel original example subject to the following acknowledgments and/or conditions:
- Customer must execute Atmel's Limited License Agreement (Atmel USB Flash Microcontroller Software Suite) and comply with all terms and conditions.
- Customer cannot apply to USB compliance testing with the USB-IF, therefore Customer cannot use the USB logo for an Integrated Product using the Atmel VID.
- All software is provided AS IS and Customer is responsible to insure the USB compliance of the Integrated Product.
- Customer must integrate the Atmel USB Flash Microcontroller Software and the USB descriptors with no changes apart from:
1-The manufacturer string, which must include the Customer's URL address and finish with "powered by AtmelĀ®": e.g. "
www.customer.com powered by AtmelĀ®".
2-The maximum power fields, which must be compatible with the actual power consumption of the Integrated Product for each possible USB configuration.
3- When applicable the Endpoint polling Interval fields can be adapted to the application.
-Customer must insure compatibility with all the features of the Atmel original example if a custom host driver is distributed with the Integrated Product.