The Supreme Court has ruled that patent holders can’t sue people for reselling or refurbishing a product that’s based on those patents. Today, it passed down a decision in Impression Products v. Lexmark International, declaring that printer company Lexmark can’t sue companies selling refilled toner cartridges for patent infringement. This reverses a two-part federal court ruling from 2016, affirming that patent law doesn’t justify eroding ownership rights.

Lexmark International, like many companies that sell printers, makes a lot of its money from customers buying a steady stream of toner cartridges after their initial purchase. But “remanufacturing” companies like Impression Products can take exhausted cartridges, refill them, and…

Continue reading…