Patent Law

Strafford Publications is hosting a live 90-Minute CLE Teleconference with Interactive Q&A on July 16, 2008.

On June 9, in Quanta Computer Inc. v. LG Electronics Inc., the U.S. Supreme Court once again reversed the Federal Circuit on an issue involving patent owners' rights, continuing the Court's recent inclination toward limiting the scope of patent rights.

The Court's ruling firmly rejected the Federal Circuit's departure from the doctrine of patent exhaustion enunciated almost 150 years ago: that the authorized sale or disposition of a patented article exhausts a patent owner's right to that article and such exhaustion cannot be "contracted around."

The Court further reversed the Federal Circuit in ruling that the patent exhaustion doctrine does apply to method claims. The Court also discussed "reasonable use" of a patented product and "essential features" of a patent claim, both highly relevant issues in exhaustion arguments.

Panel

• Allen E. Hoover, Partner, Banner & Witcoff, Chicago.
• Patricia A. Millett, Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, Washington, D.C.
• Richard P. Gilly, Partner, Winston & Strawn, Washington, D.C.

More information and registration details are available here.