Christopher R.M. Stanton Senior Counsel

In Impression Products, Inc. v. Lexmark International, No. 15–1189, 137 S. Ct. ___, 2017 WL 2322830 (May 30, 2017), the U.S. Supreme Court held that a patentee’s sale of a product exhausts all of its U.S. patent rights in that item, regardless of any contractual restrictions the patentee may have imposed on subsequent use or sale of the product and regardless of whether the sale occurs within the U.S. or abroad.

Based on their interpretation of Washington state gambling laws, many fantasy sports game operators do not allow players from Washington to participate in pay-to-play fantasy sports games.  Game operators and players alike were hopeful this would change when Washington state legislators proposed new legislation to legalize fantasy sports games in their state.