TITLE:
International Exhaustion, Parallel Imports, and the Conflict between the Patent and Copyright Laws of the United States
AUTHORS:
Christopher J. Clugston
KEYWORDS:
International Exhaustion; First Sale; Patent Exhaustion; Copyright Exhaustion; Kirtsaeng; Ninestar; Jazz Photo
JOURNAL NAME:
Beijing Law Review,
Vol.4 No.3,
September
30,
2013
ABSTRACT: This article analyses the
principle of international exhaustion—the doctrine that
sales in a foreign country extinguish intellectual property rights. Many
developed countries have pushed the international community not to recognize
international exhaustion, and thus, to prevent parallel imports. However, the
Supreme Court of the United States has recently held that there is exhaustion
under US Copyright law for international sales. This is an unexpected holding
and it creates a conflict between copyright law and patent law on the issue of
international exhaustion. This article examines the effects and possible resolution
of that conflict.