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FIRST SALE DOCTRINE

Vernon Hugh Bowman v. Monsanto Company

in
Oral argument: 
February 19, 2013
Court below: 
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

Monsanto Company, a producer of herbicide resistant soybean seeds and technology, sued Vernon Hugh Bowman, a soybean farmer, for patent infringement.  Bowman replanted second-generation seeds, which were the product of seeds purchased from a licensed Monsanto technology distributor.  Monsanto argued that by planting the product of Monsanto’s herbicide resistant seeds instead of purchasing new ones, Bowman was in violation of the Technology Agreement for the seeds.  The Federal Circuit upheld a district court decision awarding Monsanto damages for violation of their patented technology, reasoning that Monsanto's herbicide resistant technology was covered by patent regardless of whether it was the original seed or a product of the original seeds. Bowman contends that Monsanto’s patent rights were exhausted once he bought the seeds and that use of progeny seeds is an expected use of the product.  Monsanto responds that in the case of self-replicating technologies the patent extends to the technology, here, the trait of herbicide resistance, rather than the seed itself. 

Questions Presented: 

Patent exhaustion delimits rights of patent holders by eliminating the right
 to control or prohibit use of the invention after an authorized sale. In this case, the Federal Circuit refused to find exhaustion where a farmer used seeds purchased in an authorized sale for their natural and foreseeable purpose--namely, for planting.                                      

The question presented is: Whether the Federal Circuit erred by (1) refusing to find patent exhaustion in patented seeds even after an authorized sale and by (2) creating an exception to the doctrine of patent exhaustion for self-replicating technologies?

Issue

May patent holders enforce their rights on the

Written by: 
Dean Caruvana
Claire Holton-Basaldua
Edited by: 
Brandon Bodnar
Additional Resources: 

Costco Wholesale Corp. v. Omega, S.A. (08-1423)

in

Oral argument: Nov. 8, 2010

Appealed from: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (Sept. 3, 2008)

FIRST SALE DOCTRINE, COPYRIGHT LAW, IMPORTS, PROPERTY RIGHTS

Costco Wholesale Corporation sold watches manufactured in Switzerland by Omega S.A. without Omega’s prior authorization. Omega sued under the Copyright Act, claiming the sale of the watches was an infringement of their United States copyright. Costco defended on the grounds of the first sale doctrine, which currently provides a defense for reselling goods manufactured in the United States that are resold by retailers or distributors. Costco claims that the doctrine applies to foreign-manufactured goods as well. The district court granted Costco’s motion for summary judgment, but the Ninth Circuit reversed the ruling. The Supreme Court must now decide whether the first sale doctrine applies to goods manufactured abroad. The Court’s decision will influence copyright law, property rights, and the ability of retailers to resell goods.

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