Tag Archives: First Sale Doctrine

You’ve developed a wonderful new product.  The world will soon be your oyster.  But when can you start selling your product?  Can you sell your new product before you file a patent application?   Before the Leahy-Smith America Invents  Act (‘AIA’) became law in 2011, the answer was clear.   OLD LAW: A person shall be […]

If you’re a regular reader of our newsletter, you may recall in 2011 our writing about Supap Kirtsaeng’s legal problems when he was sued by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (“Wiley”) for selling text books on e-bay.  Kirtsaeng, a Thai national, opened a used textbook business in 2009 to support his educational studies in the […]

Here’s another example of the “if value, then right” approach.  You may recall that the first sale doctrine permits an owner of a copyrighted work to sell, transfer, loan, or even dispose of the work without infringing the creator’s distribution rights.  So, for example, if you were to purchase a music CD or a book, […]