On June 9, 2008, the United States Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in Quanta Computer, Inc. v. LG Elecs., Inc., 128 S.Ct. 2109 (2008). (' Quanta').
<i>Quanta Computer, Inc., et al. v. LG Electronics, Inc.</i>
In <i>Quanta Computer</i>, many observers believed that the Court would address whether, and to what extent, a party can contractually restrict application of the patent exhaustion doctrine, under which patent rights covering a product are extinguished when the product is sold without restriction. Instead, the Court's decision in <i>Quanta</i> appears to be relatively narrow, confirming that the sale of unpatented components can exhaust a system patent that is substantially, but not completely, embodied by those components, but leaving open the broader question of whether parties can contractually limit application of the patent exhaustion doctrine to the detriment of downstream good faith purchasers.
By
Matthew W. Siegal And Kevin C. EckerThis premium content is locked for The Intellectual Property Strategist subscribers only
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