I'm thinking (and this could be wrong) that part of the ramped up $9K price tag for this camera is in fact royalties to Sony for the HDV trademark?

Please read the HDV information website.
I far as I am aware, in order to have a HDV logo it must be a tape based system capable of playing and recording HDV video. So no, royalties to Sony.


Anhar

Canon, Sony, JVC, and Sharp jointly developed and agreed to the specification, so I don't think royalties for the HDV logo are involved.

Considering the Sony HDR-HC1 is also an HDV camera, and bears the logo - I don't think you have to worry about "HDV" royalties being a dominant part of the cost of the camera.

Personally I'm hoping that the extra cost of the XL H1 is due to superior optics and (likely) the HD-SDI interface.

-Steve

That $9K price tag doesn't really have a whole lot to do with HDV or the logo.