Partner Paul Stewart Comments on Patent Protection after Sale of Products
Partner Paul Stewart was quoted in “U.S. Supreme Court: Selling Product Exhausts Patent,” an article published in The Indiana Lawyer.
Excerpt: In a decision that Zimmer Biomet and other medical device manufacturers argued will change their industry, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled Tuesday [May 30, 2017], that patent holders cannot keep their patent protections after they sell their products. The case, Impression Products, Inc. v. Lexmark International, Inc., 15-1189, started when Lexmark filed a patent infringement complaint against Impression for refilling and reselling its used ink cartridges. The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals found since Lexmark had explicit restrictions prohibiting refurbishing and reselling its cartridges, its patent rights were not exhausted when it sold the items. However, the Supreme Court disagreed. It held Lexmark lost its exclusive rights once the sale of the product was completed.