The Supreme Court Says Conditional and Foreign Sales Cannot Avoid IP Exhaustion and What Should IP Owners Do?—An Analysis of the Supreme Court's IP-Exhaustion Jurisprudence
les Nouvelles - Journal of the Licensing Executives Society, Volume LIII No. 1, March 2018
10 Pages Posted: 7 Mar 2018
Date Written: January 16, 2018
Abstract
On May 30, 2017, the United States Supreme Court handed down its long-awaited decision Impression Products, Inc. v. Lexmark International, Inc. And, in holding all patents exhausted at first purchase, irrespective of the location of purchase, the Court profoundly implicated intellectual property owners, manufactures, sellers, retailers, resellers, and consumers across the globe. This Article tracks the history of the Supreme Court’s IP exhaustion jurisprudence, discusses the Supreme Court's Lexmark decision at length, and recommends ways in which IP owners may, in light of the decision, better protect their intellectual property rights.
Keywords: May 30, 2017, United States Supreme Court, impression products, inc. v. lexmark international, Inc., IP exhaustion jurisprudence, IP rights, IP owners
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