U.S. Supreme Court Denies Ninestar Appeal

On March 25, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Ninestar’s appeal that the high court review the decision of a Federal Circuit upholding the $11.1 million fine levied by the International Trade Commission. This means Ninestar has reached the end of the line in appealing the ITC fine.

Ninestar was trying to exhaust every legal option in contesting the fine order by the ITC for violating the commission’s exclusion orders.

In its petition for a writ of certiorari (a document that requests a superior court to review the ruling of a lower court by re-examining the entire case),  Ninestar asked the Court to address the issue of patent exhaustion, also known as the first-sale doctrine. Ninestar’s writ specifically asked “Whether the initial authorized sale outside the United States of a patented item terminates all patent rights to that item.” Ninestar urged the Supreme Court to review its case and settle the rules regarding international patent exhaustion to mean that “foreign sales authorized by U.S. patentees exhaust U.S. patent rights.” However, the Federal Circuit’s decision in the lawsuit between Ninestar and ITC will stand.

Many aftermarket industry observers have admired Ninestar’s combative action in fighting the Epson lawsuit and the ensuing court battles. But Ninestar is believed to have incurred enormous legal bills in the course of this struggle, including the settlement paid to Epson and the huge, $11.1 million fine it now must pay to the U.S. government.