Carte Blanche, Quanta, & Competition

Abstract

This paper, prepared for a symposium by the Journal of Corporation Law at The University of Iowa College of Law, analyzes the Supreme Court's 2008 decision in Quanta v. LG Electronics, which deals with the first sale doctrine and patent exhaustion. The author shows that the Quanta decision follows a line of cases in which the Supreme Court was recognizing norms of competition in interpreting and applying intellectual property doctrine. The paper makes the case for recognizing intellectual property law as a type of competition policy, complementing antitrust law.

Keywords: Intellectual Property, Antitrust, Jurisprudence, Supreme Court