Case Summary
### Case Summary: Lexmark International, Inc. v. Impression Products, Inc.
**Docket Number:** 3056031
**Court:** Supreme Court of the United States
**Decided:** 2017
#### Background:
The case revolves around the issue of patent rights and the doctrine of patent exhaustion. Lexmark International, Inc. (Lexmark) manufactures printers and printer cartridges and holds patents on its products. Impression Products, Inc. (Impression) is a company that refurbishes and sells used Lexmark printer cartridges. Lexmark had a policy of selling cartridges with a "single-use" restriction, meaning that once a customer purchased the cartridge, they could not sell or reuse it. However, Impression imported and resold these used cartridges, circumventing Lexmark's restrictions.
#### Legal Issues:
The central legal questions were:
1. Whether Lexmark could enforce its patent rights against Impression based on the single-use restriction placed on its cartridges.
2. Whether the doctrine of patent exhaustion applies to cartridges sold abroad, preventing Lexmark from controlling the resale of its patented items.
#### Court's Analysis:
The Supreme Court held that, once a patented item is sold, the patent owner loses the right to control the resale of that item regardless of any restrictions placed on the sale. The Court found that Lexmark's single-use restriction did not hold up, as the sales of the cartridges effectively exhausted Lexmark's patent rights. Consequently, Impression's refurbishing and resale of Lexmark's cartridges did not violate Lexmark’s patent rights.
#### Conclusion:
The Court's ruling reinforced the principle of patent exhaustion, emphasizing that patent owners cannot impose restrictions on their products after they are sold. Lexmark's attempts to control the resale of its cartridges through contractual obligations were deemed unenforceable under patent law.
#### Implications:
This ruling clarified the limits of patent rights concerning the sale and resale of patented items. It has significant implications for businesses that rely on proprietary products, indicating that once a product is sold, the company cannot impose further limitations on its use or resale.