The patent attorney leading the case in the US Federal Circuit over patent rights after first sale has told RT Media, «We Lost —for now!»
The historic full bench hearing that was examining the future of the current Jazz Photo law relating to rights after foreign sales, and the Mallinckrodt law relating to prebate sales within the US, rejected the arguments spear-headed by Ed O’Connor (pictured).
However, as O’Connor revealed, it was not a unanimous decision and the matter most certainly should now go to the Supreme Court, an action that would most likely have happened irrespective of the decision handed down today.
O’Connor expects to move quickly while the momentum is still high to have the matter, sparked by a suit between OEM Lexmark International and remanufacturer Impression Products.
O’Connor is certainly looking for additional support for the fight to continue at the Supreme Court and has agreed to share his views exclusively with RT Media readers shortly.
Many industry leaders and some patent attorneys have also contacted RT Media within hours of the decision. Many are concerned with today’s announcement fearing «If this goes unchallenged, there is nothing to stop all OEMs, in many industries, from restricting what consumers can do with their used products — in this case, empty cartridge cores could disappear entirely!»
Source: http://www.irecyclingtimes.com/News-Detail?news_column_id=9&news_id=6147
