Reprinted with permission from Portfolio Media, Inc.
Monday, Jul 07, 2008 — The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Quanta[1]
opens the door to rethinking the doctrine of patent exhaustion as it applies to
patented seeds.
In Quanta, the Supreme Court held that the exhaustion doctrine terminates
“all patent rights” over an item which was sold without restriction and which
“substantially embodies” a patent.
The patent is exhausted even if it is a method patent. Although Quanta dealt
with computer chips, the court’s holding will likely affect all technologies.
The agricultural biotech industry has shown particular interest in Quanta,
filing several amicus briefs to argue that the sale of a patented seed should
not terminate patent rights on second-generation progeny seeds produced
by a farmer-purchaser of the patented seed.
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