Law Commons^™

Trade Restraints - Patents - Effect Of Illegal Condition In Patent Licensing Agreement, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, owning a patent on a process involving the use of unpatented lecithin in the production of chocolate, assured potential users that the process might be employed by them in the manufacture of chocolate on condition that all lecithin so used be purchased exclusively from plaintiff. Defendant at .first complied with the condition but subsequently, while continuing to use the patented process, began to buy lecithin from plaintiff's competitors. Plaintiff brought suit for an injunction restraining infringement. Defendant, in counterclaiming for an injunction against future suits, in effect asked the court to hold that the implied license under which it …