Supreme Court Rules that Lexmark’s Patent Rights in Toner Cartridges were “Exhausted”

In Impression Prods. v. Lexmark, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered an opinion, in which the Supreme Court reversed a decision by the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC). The Court found that Lexmark had exhausted its patent rights in its patented toner cartridges. The issue in question is particularly relevant to patented products that have recyclable, multiple uses.
There were actually two exhaustion issues resolved in the opinion. The first dealt with domestic (i.e., within the U.S.) resales of such cartridges, and the second was whether the legitimate sale (by Lexmark) of a patent product outside the U.S. exhausted its patent rights in the U.S. for that product…

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