Recommended Citation
Toshiko Takenaka, Extending the New Patent Misuse Limitation to Copyright: Lasercomb America, Inc. v. Reynolds, 5 Software L.J. 739 (1992), https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/faculty-articles/342
Publication Title
Software Law Journal
Keywords
copyright, Patent Misuse Reform Act
Document Type
Article
Abstract
This Article examines the decisional history that shaped the misuse doctrine and the interplay between the misuse defense and antitrust liability in patent and copyright infringement litigation. In particular, by examining the public interest and policy considerations underlying patent and antitrust laws, this Article compares and evaluates the new view that misuse must be analyzed by the conventional antitrust theories expressed by Judge Posner in USM Corp. v. SPS Technologies Inc. and the traditional view that was derived from the equity doctrine expressed in Morton Salt v. G.S. Suppiger.
Furthermore, this Article reviews the legislative history and the impact on the existing common law to see to what extent the new limitations apply. This Article also criticizes the Lasercomb court's application of the traditional view and concludes that the court should have extended the new limitations in the Patent Misuse Reform Act to evaluate the licensing practice.