This article by Yee Wah Chin analyzes patents on "self-replicating technologies." The self-replicating technology most referenced in this article is seed for planting crops--because each plant will produce more seeds carrying the patented trait, the technology which is patented replicates itself. This leads to a tension, though, with the idea that patent rights are exhausted in an authorized sale--because the purchaser of the item containing the technology can then produce more of the patented technology, the inventor of a self-replicating technology can lose rights which traditionally go to an inventor.
Ms. Chin explores the federal courts' treatment of this tension, and also suggests a solution to this problem, in this article.
- Summary by FizzLaw Team
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Inexhaustible: Patents on Self-replicating Technologies