Parties Coordinate Filings Before US CAFC Hearings

The various parties preparing to file amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) briefs with the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (CAFC), have met to coordinate approaches to the legal issues involved. This group supports ending restrictive patent rights on the first sale, either domestic or foreign, of printer cartridges

Washington, DC based patent attorney Merritt Blakeslee is filing a brief on behalf of RT Media relating to overturning the law where patented cartridges first sold outside of the USA do not lose (exhaust) their patent rights. He told RT Media “It is an impressive group, and there will be strong briefs filed on our side.”

Ed O’Connor, patent attorney defending Impression Products in their case with Lexmark International, updated the group on the filing of his responses to the case. He and other “amici” met with representatives of several U.S. agencies and departments, including the Solicitor General’s Office of the Department of Justice, because the U.S. Government (USG) has been requested to file an amicus brief in the case.  Blakeslee reported that it’s not clear at this time which way the USG will come out on the issues.  However, the USG has requested a two-week extension to give it time to prepare its brief. If the request is granted by the CAFC, the deadline for filing amicus briefs may be pushed back from the June 5 deadline, to June 17.

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