Right to Repair: Infringement or Exhaustion Part 3 This post is part 3 of a series of posts relating to a person’s right to repair their purchased products. Parts 1 and discussed the general background and several policy arguments surrounding both sides of this issue and the main patent laws and legal doctrine related to the right to repair. This part will discuss […] Continue Reading →
Right to Repair: Can you fix your own things? Part 1 This post is part 1 of a set of posts relating to a person’s right to repair your things. When you buy a thing, you expect the thing to at least work as intended. The thing is usually even warranted for at least a little while to be useable as intended by the manufacturer. However, […] Continue Reading →
When a printer is not like a molecule – sales of biologicals and a recent Supreme Court decision A month ago, we reported to you that a US Supreme Court decision reversed prior law and said that once a patented item is sold, the patent holder can no longer sue the legitimate purchaser of the patented product. Up until that decision, the Federal Circuit had held a patent owner could sell some but […] Continue Reading →
Supreme Court Rejects Patent Exhaustion Defense for Patented Bean Replanting The Supreme Court has handed down its much anticipated decision in Bowman v. Monsanto Co., holding that the defense of patent exhaustion does not apply to the practice of planting and harvesting patented seeds through planting and harvesting without the patent holder's permission. The case centers on the Roundup Ready gene, which confers resistance to […] Continue Reading →
New and Useful – April 5, 2013 · In Power Integrations, Inc. v. Fairchild Semiconductor International, Inc. the Federal Circuit clarified several points relating to claim construction, determinations of non-obviousness, and calculation of damages. The court confirmed that claiming a “circuit” in conjunction with a sufficiently definite structure for performing the identified function is adequate to bar means-plus-function claiming. The court also […] Continue Reading →
Supreme Court Decides Foreign First Sale Doctrine The Supreme Court recentlydecided a much anticipated case, finally answering a long awaited question: Does the first sale doctrine apply to copyrighted works manufactured in other countries? According to the Supreme Court in Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., the answer to this question is yes. John Wiley & Sons sued Supap Kirtsaeng for […] Continue Reading →
Supreme Court hears arguments today regarding first sale doctrine and international purchases This morning the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Costco Wholesale Corp. v. Omega S.A., a case regarding the potential international scope of the first sale doctrine. Costco lawfully purchased authentic Omega watches abroad and imported them to the United States for sale in its stores. Omega sued for copyright infringement, arguing the watches […] Continue Reading →
Ninth Circuit: AutoCAD purchasers are licensees, so first sale doctrine does not apply to resale In a decision last week, the Ninth Circuit held the purchaser of a copy of AutoCAD software was not an owner of the copy, but instead a licensee. As a result, the purchaser did not have the protection of the first sale doctrine (codified in 17 U.S.C. § 109(a)) when attempting to resell the software […] Continue Reading →
Sales of products by party under unconditional covenant not to sue exhaust patent rights In a decision Wednesday, the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court's finding that a patentee's claims for patent infringement were barred by patent exhaustion in view of a settlement agreement between the patentee and a previous defendant in an infringement suit. The patentee previously sued a third party, and the suit was resolved by a […] Continue Reading →
Ninth Circuit: First sale doctrine doesn’t apply to goods purchased abroad and imported to US In a decision last week, the Ninth Circuit reversed a district court's grant of summary judgment to a copyright defendant on the basis of the "first sale" doctrine, codified at 17 U.S.C. § 109(a). The defendant obtained the products bearing the copyright from a third party who legally purchased them outside the United States. The […] Continue Reading →