As we reported a couple weeks ago, Lexmark won its argument earlier this year before an appellate court, but the small business appealed that decision to the Supreme Court. So although Impression Products won a partial victory in the district court, it lost badly — 10 judges to two — in the Federal Circuit appellate court. The Supreme Court will now decide whether patent exhaustion and the conditional sale doctrine can live side by side, or whether one must be overturned. Before deciding whether to hear the case, the Supreme Court called for the views of the U.S. government, which the Court does in some of the most important cases. A host of other parties, from antitrust and intellectual property scholars to large retailers and tech companies, also support Impression Products.

Source: Forbes December 05, 2016 14:45 UTC