patent misuse
Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court
Definitions from Case Law
From 314 U.S. 488 - Morton Salt Co. v. G. S. Suppiger Co. · 1942Most cited · 1,225 citing opinions
Equity may rightly withhold its assistance from such a use of the patent by declining to entertain a suit for infringement, and should do so at least until it is made to appear that the improper practice has been abandoned and that the consequences of the misuse of the patent have been dissipated.
How the Supreme Court has restated “patent misuse”
Each Supreme Court definition of “patent misuse,” sized by how often later courts cited it. “Change” is measured by wording overlap with earlier definitions — a rough signal, not a semantic judgment.
How often courts cite the cases defining “patent misuse”
Court decisions citing the 3 opinions that defined “patent misuse” — 2,400 in all, by decade. Counts are citations to the defining cases as a whole, not verified uses of the term. The dip in the most recent years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the latest years.
All 3 definitions, chronological · 1942–1957
That which is condemned as against public policy by the 'Tie-in' cases is the extension of the monopoly of the patent to create another monopoly or restraint of competition—a restraint not countenanced by the patent grant.
the courts will not aid a patent owner who has misused his patents to recover any of their emoluments accruing during the period of misuse or thereafter until the effect of such misuse have been dissipated, or 'purged' as the conventional saying goes. The rule is an extension of the equitable doctrine of 'unclean hands' to the patent field.