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	Patent Misuse Explained
		Patent misuse is an affirmative defense that recognizes that it is possible for a patent owner to abuse the exclusive right enjoyed as a result of the issuance of a patent.
		Patent misuse merely prevents the owner of the patent from recovering for infringement for the duration of the misuse.
		Patent misuse arose as an equitable defense available to the accused infringer, from the desire to restrain practices that did not in themselves violate any law, but that drew anticompetitive strength from the patent right, and thus were deemed to be contrary to public policy.
	www.ipwatchdog.com /patent_misuse.html (1648 words)

	Patent Misuse: Limitations on a Patentee's Rights
		In general, misuse exists when the patentee has either engaged in conduct involving the patent that amounts to a violation of the antitrust laws or has improperly sought to expand the scope of the patent (either in a physical or temporal sense).
		The court stated that while there was nothing inherently wrong with purchasing a patent and enforcing it against an infringer, the intent and underlying purpose of accumulating such a large number of patents amounted to a violation of antitrust laws and patent misuse.
		It was made clear that a patentee is not guilty of patent misuse or illegally extending the patent right by seeking to obtain relief for conduct by a third party that would otherwise be deemed "contributory infringement" (i.e., the sale of a component uniquely suited to be used in infringing a patent).
	www.tms.org /pubs/journals/JOM/matters/matters-9208.html (994 words)

	NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Copyright misuse (Site not responding. Last check: )
		Copyright misuse is derived from the longstanding equitable doctrine of "unclean hands", which bars a party from asking for equitable relief (such as an injunction) against another when they have themselves acted improperly (though not necessarily illegally).
		Patent misuse, which is analogous to the concept of copyright misuse.
		While the exact dimensions of the copyright misuse defense will be known only after considerably more cases are decided, its consequences should be considered by anyone who is trying to use his or her copyright to go beyond the protection of the copyright laws.
	www.nationmaster.com /encyclopedia/Copyright-misuse (1057 words)

	Provisional Application for Patent
		A provisional application for patent (provisional application) has a pendency lasting 12 months from the date the provisional application is filed.
		Once a provisional application is filed, an alternative to filing a corresponding non-provisional application is to convert the provisional application to a non-provisional application by filing a grantable petition under 37 CFR § 1.53(c)(3) requesting such a conversion within 12 months of the provisional application filing date.
		The term of a patent issuing from a non-provisional application resulting from the conversion of a provisional application will be measured from the original filing date of the provisional application.
	www.uspto.gov /web/offices/pac/provapp.htm (1812 words)

	PATENT MISUSE IN PATENT POOL LICENSING: FROM NATIONAL HARROW TO "THE NINE NO-NOs" TO NOT LIKELY
		The doctrine of patent misuse--unenforceability of a patent as a penalty for its improper use--was firmly established in Morton Salt Co. v.
		The doctrine of patent misuse is an affirmative defense to a suit for patent infringement, and requires that the alleged infringer show that the patentee has impermissibly broadened the "physical or temporal scope" of the patent grant with anticompetitive effect.
		Patent owner P is clearly in a worse position in the second scenario described above, if the law requires him to license his technology separately.
	www.law.duke.edu /journals/dltr/articles/2006dltr0007.html (6692 words)

	Arnold & Porter LLP - Publication Articles - Intellectual Property/Technology
		The doctrine of patent misuse was developed by the courts in the context of its being asserted as an affirmative defense in patent litigation.
		It is not necessary for the party asserting patent misuse as an affirmative defense to establish the elements of an antitrust claim.
		Reflecting this tension, the patent misuse doctrine gradually became the focal point for establishing, on a case-by-case basis, the limits of the patentee's statutory monopoly power, in light of the antitrust policy of encouraging competition.
	www.arnoldporter.com /publications_articles.cfm?practice_ID=8&publication_id=491&archive=1 (1566 words)

	Digital Law Online: Copyright Misuse
		The classic patent misuse occurs when a patent owner conditions the use of a patented item (such as a salt spreader) on the purchase of a nonpatented item (such as salt) also supplied by the patent owner.
		The courts have found that such an action attempts to improperly enlarge the scope of the patent, and therefore when the patent owner comes to court, it is with “unclean hands” and the court will refuse to enforce the patent until the misuse ends and its effects no longer exist.
		The penalty for copyright misuse — unenforceability of the copyright in court until the misuse has been purged and its effects no longer exist — is tantamount to losing the copyright.
	digital-law-online.info /lpdi1.0/treatise15.html (756 words)

	US Patent Law - Wikibooks, collection of open-content textbooks
		One well-known early example was a patent for seamless stockings with fake seams: at the time (the 1920s), stockings with seams were widely viewed to be higher-quality than seamless stockings, so the fake seams were seen as an attempt to defraud consumers, and the patent was rejected.
		Patent misuse refers to the use of a patent to illegally stifle competition: it is closely tied to antitrust law.
		A patent grant is only a right to exclude others, from operating writing within the scope of a claim, during the term (begins at grant), in the US A patent license is a permission to do something that would be illegal otherwise.
	en.wikibooks.org /wiki/US_Patent_Law (5860 words)

	Just what is a Patent?
		The inventor or his assignee obtains a patent by filing an application with the patent office in the stipulated forms as required by the Patent act of that country.
		Patents are technically national, given that the designated authority in each country grants patents in that country.
		It is the sole responsibility of the patentee (the person to whom a patent is granted, by the appropriate authority — the patentor) to see that his patents are not being infringed upon by someone else.
	www.rediff.com /money/2005/apr/06patent.htm (896 words)

	Lasercomb America, Inc. v. Reynolds (Site not responding. Last check: )
		The misuse of a patent is a potential defense to suit for its infringement, and both the existence and parameters of that body of law are well established.
		Although a patent misuse defense was recognized by the courts as early as 1917, *fn14 most commentators point to Morton Salt Co. v.
		He granted an exclusive license in the patents to Joy Manufacturing, and the license agreement included a provision that Compton would not "engage in any business or activity relating to the manufacture or sale of equipment of the type licensed hereunder" for as long as he was due royalties under the patents.
	www.bowie-jensen.com /computerlaw/lasercomb.html (6168 words)

	395 U.S. 100
		Zenith contended that the patent pools refused to license the foreign patents, including Hazeltine's, placed within their exclusive licensing authority, to Zenith and others seeking to export American-made radios and television sets into those foreign markets.
		With respect to patent misuse, judgment was entered for Zenith for treble the actual damages of approximately $50,000, and injunctive relief given against further misuse.
		On the patent misuse claim, the treble-damage award against HRI was affirmed, but the injunction against further misuse was modified.
	www.stolaf.edu /people/becker/antitrust/summaries/395us100.html (870 words)

	[No title]
		Co., 243 U.S. The two concepts, contributory infringement and patent misuse, often are juxtaposed, because both concern the relationship between a patented invention and unpatented articles or elements that are needed for the invention to be practiced.
		Although the disc itself was not patented, the Court noted that it was essential to the functioning of the patented combination, and that its method of interaction with the stylus was what "[marked] the advance upon the prior art." Id., at 330.
		It underlies both the doctrine of patent misuse and the general principle that the boundary of a patent monopoly is to be limited by the literal scope of the patent claims.
	www-personal.umich.edu /~rjmorris/fall2003/DAWSON.doc (4995 words)

	Intellectual Property Professional Information Center: Packaging Essential, Nonessential Patents Does Not Give Rise to ... (Site not responding. Last check: )
		The licensees raised patent misuse as an affirmative defense, alleging that Philips had included in the category of "essential" patents some that were actually not essential for manufacturing CDs per the Orange Book, because there were commercially viable alternative methods of manufacturing CDs without using the patented technology.
		The ITC ruled that Philips's package license practice "constitutes patent misuse per se as a tying arrangement" because existing or potential alternative manufacturing methods existed for four patents in the "essential" package, but licensees were required to purchase them because they were tied to actually essential patents.
		Patent misuse is an equitable defense to patent infringement intended to prevent a patentee from using the patent to obtain market benefit beyond that inherent in the statutory patent right, Judge William C. Bryson noted.
	ipcenter.bna.com /pic2/ip.nsf/id/BNAP-6GQJVV?OpenDocument (1397 words)

	Submarine patent - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		Submarine patents are considered by many as a procedural lache (a delay in enforcing one's rights, which may cause the rights to be lost).
		Under Article 93 EPC, a European patent application shall be published as soon as possible after the expiry of eighteen months after the date of filing or, if priority has been claimed, as from the date of priority.
		The enforceable life of the patent can no longer be shifted into the period when a technology has become more widely adopted, and the patent applicant must give up the chance of foreign patent protection if he is to maintain patent secrecy beyond the 18 month period.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Submarine_patent (1112 words)

	Cohen, Reverse Engineering
		It then addresses the reach of the patent misuse doctrine in the lock-out context and argues that the doctrine should be narrowed, but not abandoned altogether in favor of an antitrust approach, as some have suggested.
		Under this approach to the patent misuse doctrine, the core principle underlying the doctrine is one of reciprocal obligation.
		A misuse of the patent constitutes voluntary divestiture by the patentee of its right to invoke the protection of the patent laws until the misuse is purged and its consequences "fully dissipated."
	www.law.cornell.edu /copyright/commentary/chn95t5.htm (4675 words)

	FindLaw for Legal Professionals - Case Law, Federal and State Resources, Forms, and Code
		For example, the owner of a patented salt canning machine who requires licensees to use (and thus purchase) the owner's unpatented salt tablets in the machine as a condition of the license commits patent misuse.
		Generally speaking, patent misuse is an affirmative defense raised in response to an allegation of patent infringement.
		The arbitrator ruled that MACTEC could not assert a patent misuse defense because (1) MACTEC failed timely to file its defense; and (2) because issues of patent invalidity were, by the terms of the arbitration agreement, beyond the scope of arbitrable issues.
	laws.findlaw.com /10th/031290.html (4776 words)

	Brief for the United States as Amicus Curiae : McFarling v. Monsanto Co.
		Univis Lens Co., 316 U.S. The doctrine of patent misuse is a defense to a claim of patent infringement (and, by extension, to a claim of breach of a patent-licensing agreement).
		Courts have repeatedly held that the doctrine of patent misuse is an affirmative defense, rather than an independent cause of action.
		The first question presented in the petition is whether "a patent holder [may] lawfully prohibit farmers from saving and replanting seed as a condition to the purchase of patented technology." Pet.
	www.usdoj.gov /atr/cases/f209200/209268.htm (5166 words)

	United States - Patent Misuse
		There is an inherent conflict between the patent law and antitrust law because the grant of a patent provides the patentee with a monopoly for a limited time.
		The basis of this counterclaim was that Nobelpharma was attempting to enforce a patent that it knew was invalid and unenforceable because of the intentional failure during prosecution of the application to bring to the attention of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office a 1977 book written by one of the inventors.
		The first draft of the patent application included reference to the 1977 book but the first application that was filed in Sweden and the application which was ultimately filed in the United States did not include a reference to this book.
	www.ladas.com /BULLETINS/1999/0399Bulletin/US_PatentMisuse.html (201 words)

	No. 04-31: McFarling v. Monsanto Co. - Amicus Invitation (Petition)
		Although the court of appeals rejected petitioner's patent-misuse defense, it vacated the district court's entry of final judgment on respondent's breach-of-con tract claim on the ground that the liquidated-damages clause in the licensing agreement was unenforceable.
		See 35 U.S.C. 271(d) ("No patent owner otherwise entitled to relief for infringement * * * of a patent shall be * * * deemed guilty of misuse or illegal extension of the pat ent right by reason of his having * * * (4) refused to license or use any rights to the patent.").
		In order to demonstrate patent misuse, however, petitioner was required to show that respondent's restrictions on the use of second-genera tion seeds "impermissibly broadened the scope of the patent grant." C.R. Bard, 157 F.3d at 1372.
	www.usdoj.gov /osg/briefs/2004/2pet/6invit/2004-0031.pet.ami.inv.html (4874 words)

	Title
		Today, patent misuse is a well-established doctrine where courts generally apply antitrust principles to determine whether a patentee’s use is misuse.
		Patent misuse is a technical defense to infringement that relies largely on antitrust analysis for resolution.
		Then, assuming “that judicial authority teaches that the patent misuse doctrine may be applied as a defense to copyright infringement,” the court evaluated whether United Telephone actually restrained competition by its pricing scheme or its “effort to require Johnson to purchase a license in its entire white pages listing” and concluded that it did not.
	www.law.berkeley.edu /journals/btlj/articles/vol15/frischmann/frischmann.html (15070 words)

	Duane Morris - Federal Circuit Alert
		In the course of the proceedings, the respondents raised patent misuse as an affirmative defense, arguing that a number of the patents Philips included in the packages were not essential for manufacturing recordable and rewritable compact discs because there were other commercially viable alternative methods that did not require the patented technology.
		The ITC affirmed the administrative law judge's decision, finding that Philips' licensing practice constituted patent misuse per se as a tying arrangement between patents that are essential to manufacture compact discs according to industry standards and licenses to patents that are not essential to that activity.
		The ITC also ruled that Philips' arrangement constituted patent misuse under the rule of reason analysis, because the anticompetitive effects of including nonessential patents in the packages of essential patents outweighed the pro-competitive effects of the practice.
	www.duanemorris.com /alerts/alert2016.html (2446 words)

	3rd Circuit Breaks New Ground on Copyright Misuse, 8/26/03.
		The defense of copyright misuse was raised in this case because Disney licensed its movie trailers subject to license terms that prohibit the licensees from using the movie trailers in a way that is "derogatory to or critical of the entertainment industry or of" Disney.
		The Supreme Court held that there is a defense of patent misuse to prevent the holders of patents from using the authority extended to them under the Patent Act to prevent competition in products that are not protected by patent.
		Hence, the doctrine of patent misuse is similar to, but not identical to competition, or antitrust, analysis.
	www.techlawjournal.com /topstories/2003/20030826.asp (2257 words)

	IP Law Observer: Licensing a Package of Compact Disc Patents Did Not Constitute Patent Misuse
		The One Sentence Summary: The licensing of a package of compact disc patents without separately offering licenses for the "essential" patents in the package did not constitute patent misuse because there was no effect on any market for alternative technologies and because there were valid, pro-competitive reasons for licensing packages of patents.
		Patent misuse is an equitable defense to patent infringement that prevents a patentee from using the patent to impermissibly broaden the scope of the patent grant with anticompetitive effect.
		Finding patent misuse in that situation would encourage litigation by licensees and is not good policy.
	www.iplawobserver.com /2005/09/licensing-package-of-compact-disc.html (719 words)

	Reference.com/Encyclopedia/Patent misuse
		In the United States, patent misuse is an affirmative defense used in patent litigation after the defendant has been found to have infringed a patent.
		In the United States, a patent is a publication that grants the patentee the right to exclude others from making, using, or selling the claimed invention that is disclosed in the patent.
		It is not patent misuse to enforce rights to a patent irrespective of any use or non-use by the patent owner.
	www.reference.com /browse/wiki/Patent_misuse (143 words)

	Patent misuse - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		In the United States, a patent is a statutory right that grants the patentee the right to exclude others from making, using, or selling a patented invention.
		Historically, courts were willing to entertain a patent misuse defense for patent owners who never undertook any commercial use and solely sought out infringers.
		Recent decisions have held it is not patent misuse to enforce rights to a patent, and enforcement is permissible irrespective of any use or non-use by the owner.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Patent_misuse (146 words)

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