United States Supreme Court

In a licensing dispute arising out of an agreement to purchase a patent for a Spider-Man toy in exchange for a lump sum plus a 3% royalty on future sales, which set no end date for the royalties, the Ninth Circuit's ruling that Marvel could stop paying royalties is affirmed where: 1) under Brulotte v. Thys Co., 379 U. S. 29, a patentee cannot continue to receive royalties for sales made after his patent expires; and 2) stare decisis requires the Supreme Court to adhere to Brulotte.

Appellate Information

• Decided 06/22/2015
• Published 06/22/2015

Judges

• Kagan

Court

• United States Supreme Court

Counsel