first sale doctrine

Bowman v. Monsanto Company

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 as Framed for the Court by the Parties

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 products of self-replicating technologies, such as replicating seeds, after an authorized sale or does the patent only apply to the original article?

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Costco Wholesale Corp. v. Omega, S.A.

Issues

If a United States corporation resold foreign-manufactured goods obtained through a third party importer, may the reselling United States corporation defend on the grounds that the first sale doctrine applies and thus they are not liable for copyright infringement after the first sale of the goods?

 

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.

Questions as Framed for the Court by the Parties

Whether the Ninth Circuit correctly held that the first sale doctrine does not apply to imported goods manufactured abroad.

Omega is a corporation that manufactures high-end watches in Switzerland. See Omega v. Costco Wholesale Corporation, 541 F.3d 982, 983 (9th Cir.

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Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Issues

Whether the first-sale doctrine codified in 17 U.S.C. § 109(a) applies to copyrighted works manufactured and purchased abroad and then resold in the United States without the copyright owner’s permission.

 

The Respondent, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (“Wiley”), brought a claim against the Petitioner, Supap Kirtsaeng d/b/a Bluechristine99 (“Kirtsaeng”), for violation of the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101–810. While attending school in the U.S., Kirtsaeng imported and sold foreign-made textbooks from Thailand manufactured by Wiley's Asian subsidiary. Wiley alleges that Kirtsaeng violated § 602(a)(1) of the Act, which prohibits the importation of foreign-made works or goods without the copyright owner's authority. Kirtsaeng claims that, according to the first-sale doctrine codified in § 109(a), he was permitted to resell Wiley’s textbooks in the U.S. without the Respondent’s permission because the doctrine states that a copyright owner loses exclusive rights after the first sale of the work. Therefore, the issue in the case centers on the interpretation of § 602(a)(1) and § 109(a). The outcome of this case will clarify the applicability of the Copyright Act to foreign-made products. The Supreme Court’s decision will affect not only the availability of foreign-made works and goods in the U.S. ,  but also the availability of such products abroad. If Wiley prevails, public, non-profit entities like museums, libraries, and charitable organizations will be heavily burdened because they will have to take extensive steps to procure the necessary licensing rights for goods that they import and distribute.

Questions as Framed for the Court by the Parties

This case presents the issue that recently divided the Court, 4–4, in Costco Wholesale Corp. v. Omega, S.A., 562 U. S. ____ (2010). Under § 602(a)(1) of the Copyright Act, it is impermissible to import a work “without the authority of the owner” of the copyright. But the first-sale doctrine, codified at § 109(a), allows the owner of a copy “lawfully made under this title” to sell or otherwise dispose of the copy without the copyright owner’s permission.

The question presented is how these provisions apply to a copy that was made and legally acquired abroad and then imported into the United States. Can such a foreign-made product never be resold within the U.S. without the copyright owner’s permission, as the Second Circuit held in this case? Can such a foreign-made product sometimes be resold in this country without permission, but only after the owner approves an earlier sale here, as the Ninth Circuit held in Costco? Or can such a product always be resold without permission within the United States, so long as the copyright owner authorized the first sale abroad, as the Third Circuit has indicated?

The Respondent Wiley, is an American company that publishes and sells textbooks. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. v. Kirtsaeng, 654 F.3d 210, 212-13 (2d Cir.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank former Supreme Court Reporter of Decisions Frank Wagner for his assistance in editing this preview.

Additional Resources

Kirk Sigmon, The Cornell Daily Sun, Textbooks Too Expensive? How the Supreme Court Might Make it Worse (Sept. 7, 2012)

Caroline Flax, The Cornell Daily Sun, Alumnus Appeals Copyright Verdict to Supreme Court (Apr. 18, 2012)

MSNBC, Supreme Court Takes Another Look at Gray Market Resales (Apr. 17, 2012)

Fox News, High Court Steps Into Copyright Case (Apr. 16, 2012)

Wex: Copyright

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