Leveraging Free Online Tools for DIY Patent Searches: A Guide for Garage Inventors

By Connor S. Williams

You’ve got an invention—now what? Protecting your work may be the next step, but perhaps you’re unfamiliar with the patent system, don’t know any patent attorneys, or don’t really want to reach out for fear of incurring attorney’s fees. Below I provide two free resources for checking to see if it is worth your time […]

Right to Repair: Infringement or Exhaustion Part 2

This post is part 2 of a series of posts relating to a person’s right to repair your purchased products. Part 1 discussed the general background and several policy arguments surrounding both sides of this issue. This post will discuss the main patent laws and legal doctrine related to the right to repair. The central […]

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, […]

U.S. Supreme Court Extends the Limitation of “Exhaustion” for Patent Rights

A United States patent entitles the patent holder to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling [its] invention throughout the United States or importing the invention into the United States. However, when a patentee sells one of its products, the patentee can no longer control that item through the patent laws— its […]

Exhausting Patent Rights Without a “Sale”

InLifeScan Scotland, LTD v. Shasta Technologies, LLC, the Federal Circuit clarified the ability of a patnet holder to enforce patent rights in a product it has given away, but not "sold." Defendant Shasta Technologies appealed from a decision of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California granting LifeScan Scotland a preliminary […]

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 […]