Recent Court Ruling Affirms Restrictions on Reimporting Patented Goods
The sale abroad of a good patented in the U.S. does not “exhaust” the patent and allow the good’s unrestricted sale in the U.S., said the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in a recent decision. In the wake…
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of a 2013 Supreme Court decision that found the “first sale” abroad removes copyright restrictions (see 13032521), the CAFC held Feb. 12 (here) that the same does not apply to patents. The Federal Circuit sided with Lexmark in finding an importer that purchased spent printer cartridges abroad before refilling them and selling them in the U.S. infringed Lexmark’s patents. “Loss of U.S. patent rights based on a foreign sale remains a matter of express or implied license,” it said. The importer, Impression Products, said it plans to appeal to the Supreme Court, according to a report by Reuters (here).