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Intellectual Property Rights Require A Balancing Act: The Exhaustion Doctrine And Patentee Rights Vs. Consumer Protection

Published onAug 07, 2022
Intellectual Property Rights Require A Balancing Act: The Exhaustion Doctrine And Patentee Rights Vs. Consumer Protection

19 Wake Forest Bus. & Intell. Prop. L. 203

In May 2017, the Supreme Court entered one of the most influential
patent decisions in its storied history, Impression Prod., Inc. v. Lexmark
Int’l, Inc. The decision effectively overruled the precedent of the Court
of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and set in stone that the United States
would now practice under international patent exhaustion instead of the
national patent exhaustion doctrine previously practiced. This
decision, of course, affects business and individual patent owners, but
it also will have a profound impact on consumers, as well as many
potential unintended consequences. This article seeks to explain the
policy behind the Court’s decision by first detailing the development of
patent exhaustion in the United States. Subsequently, this article will
analyze patent attorneys’ reactions to the Lexmark decision, while also
analyzing the best course of action for patent owners and national and
international governing bodies to employ in order to empower both
patentees and consumers alike.

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