In Impression Products, Inc. v. Lexmark International, Inc., the U.S. Supreme Court recently held that a patent owner's initial sale of a product, in the U.S. or in a foreign country, exhausts all of the U.S. patent rights in the product even if the patent owner attempts to place post-sale restrictions on the use and resale of the product. Thus, a purchaser of the product, and anyone acquiring the product from the purchaser, may use and resell the product without infringing any patents covering the product. Further, even if the initial sale of the product occurs outside of the U.S., the product may be imported into the U.S. and resold in the U.S. without infringing any U.S. patents covering the product.
Please see full publication below for more information.