SUPREME COURT VICTORY FOR THE RIGHT TO TINKER IN PRINTER CARTRIDGE CASE

 

The Court explained that people who buy things are allowed to use and resell them without being sued under patent and copyright law, and explained that this freedom is necessary for commerce to function. The next logical step will be for courts to recognize that people who buy digital goods are owners of those goods, not mere licensees, and can resell and tinker with their digital goods to the same extent as purchasers of tangible property.

Yesterday’s decision from the Supreme Court reverses that of a lower Federal Court, and is touted as being a step forward for the right to repair movement.

It will be interesting to see what implication this will truly have in the deeply entrenched and complicated battles with companies like John Deere.