You reap what you sow – Patent exhaustion defense doesn’t stir Supreme Court

Description

Abstract: After a farmer went to great lengths to devise a complex planting and harvesting practice to evade the terms of a licensing agreement, the seed manufacturer sued him. Although the farmer had violated the license terms by planting the purchased seed over eight seasons instead of just one, he claimed that he was protected by the “patent exhaustion” doctrine, which gives the purchaser of a patented article, or any subsequent owner, the right to use or resell that article. This article explains why the Court rejected that defense — at least in this case.