Quanta Computer, Inc., et al. v. LG Electronics, Inc.
The Court reaffirmed the patent exhaustion doctrine, holding that an authorized sale of a component triggers exhaustion when its only reasonable and intended use is to engage the patent and it substantially embodies the invention's essential features.· AI-written
553 U.S. 617 · No. 06-937 · 2007 term · Roberts Court
Decided Jun 9, 2008 · argued Jan 16, 2008
Economic activity · Patents and copyrights: patentability of computer processes
Majority opinion: Clarence Thomas
The voteMajority
9–09 in the majority, 0 in dissent
No dissent (9–0)
Reversed. Quanta Computer, Inc., et al. won.
What this ruling means
Reversed: the Supreme Court overturned the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit, and its own ruling ends the case.
Quanta Computer, Inc., et al. was the petitioner, the side that asked the Supreme Court to review the case. “Won” means the Court gave that side the result it asked for.
From the Supreme Court Database. A justice who agreed with the result but not the reasoning counts in the majority.
Summary
The opening of the case’s Wikipedia article: what the case was about and what the Court held.
Quanta Computer, Inc. v. LG Electronics, Inc., 553 U.S. 617 (2008), is a case decided by the United States Supreme Court in which the Court reaffirmed the validity of the patent exhaustion doctrine. The decision made uncertain the continuing precedential value of a line of decisions in the Federal Circuit that had sought to limit Supreme Court exhaustion doctrine decisions to their facts and to require a so-called "rule of reason" analysis of all post-sale restrictions other than tie-ins and price fixes. In the course of restating the patent exhaustion doctrine, the Court held that it is triggered by, among other things, an authorized sale of a component when the only reasonable and intended use of the component is to engage the patent and the component substantially embodies the patented invention by embodying its essential features. The Court also overturned, in passing, that the exhaustion doctrine was limited to product claims and did not apply to method claims.
Data notes
The text is Wikipedia’s (CC BY-SA 4.0), matched to the case by its citation, docket number or name and year, and is not checked against the opinion. The site keeps the article’s opening section, ending on its last full sentence. The one-sentence summary under the title is the Decisions list’s: Wikipedia’s own ruling sentence, or, tagged “AI-written”, one Claude wrote from this opening.
How the justices voted
Each justice who took part, placed by their Martin–Quinn ideology score for the 2007 term. Filled: the 9 in the majority. Hollow: the 0 in dissent. Colour is the party of the president who appointed them.
Majority(9)
Clarence ThomasWrote the majority opinion
John StevensJoined the majority
Ruth GinsburgJoined the majority
David SouterJoined the majority
Stephen BreyerJoined the majority
Anthony KennedyJoined the majority
John RobertsJoined the majority
Samuel AlitoJoined the majority
Antonin ScaliaJoined the majority
Dissent(0)
- None.
Data notes
Each justice’s vote and what they wrote are from the justice-centered file of the Supreme Court Database. “Wrote a concurrence” means the justice sided with the majority and wrote separately; a justice who dissented in part is counted on the side they took overall. A justice who wrote nothing is listed as joining their side.
Positions are each justice’s Martin–Quinn score for the case’s term, the same scores as the Ideology page: negative is more liberal, positive more conservative. A score sums up a justice’s votes across the whole term, so it says where they usually sit, not why they voted as they did here. The median line is the Court’s median justice that term.
The parties
Who brought the case to the Court, who answered it, and how it got there.
- Petitioner
- Quanta Computer, Inc., et al.Computer business or manufacturer, hardware or software
- Respondent
- LG Electronics, Inc.Inventor, patent assigner, trademark owner or holder
- Reached the Court by
- Certiorari (the Court chose to hear it)
Data notes
The names are the two sides of the case’s title. The description under each is the Supreme Court Database’s category for that party, in its own wording. The petitioner is the side that asked the Supreme Court to review the decision below. “Why it was taken” appears only when the majority opinion says lower courts disagreed or were unsure about the question; reasons that would fit any case (“to resolve the question presented”, “an important question”) are left out.
The law at issue
The law the Court was asked to apply, and the kind of power it used to decide.
- Decided by
- Federal common law
Data notes
The Supreme Court Database codes the main constitutional provision, statute or court rule each case turned on, and the basis of the decision: judicial review of a federal or state law, interpreting a statute, supervising the lower courts, and so on. A case can rest on more than one. “Overruled” counts only where the majority opinion says so.
Timeline
What happened at the Court and how the case got there, newest first.
- Jun 9, 2008DecidedDecided · Decided 9–0: reversed. Quanta Computer, Inc., et al. won.
- Jan 16, 2008ArguedArgued · Oral argument before the Court.
- Not datedTaken upTaken up · The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case (certiorari).
- Not datedCourt belowCourt below · Decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit: affirmed.
- Not datedBeganBegan · The case began in the California Northern U.S. District Court.
Data notes
From the Supreme Court Database: the court the case began in, the court whose decision the Supreme Court reviewed and what that court did, how the case came to the Court, and the dates of argument and decision. The database does not date the steps in the lower courts. Court names are the database’s.
Other decisions on the same issue
10 other argued cases since 1946 on patents and copyrights: patentability of computer processes, newest first.
- Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank Int'lLandmark · Copyright/Patents573 U.S. 208Jun 19, 2014 · 573 U.S. 208Economic activityLandmark · Copyright/Patents9–0Unanimous band
- Microsoft Corporation, Petitioner v. I4i Limited Partnership et al.564 U.S. 91Jun 9, 2011 · 564 U.S. 91Economic activity8–0Unanimous band
- Bernard L. Bilski and Rand A. Warsaw v. David J. Kappos, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director, Patent and Trademark Office561 U.S. 593Jun 28, 2010 · 561 U.S. 593Economic activity9–0Unanimous band
- Microsoft Corporation v. AT&T Corp.550 U.S. 437Apr 30, 2007 · 550 U.S. 437Economic activity7–18–1 band
- Ebay Inc., et al. v. Mercexchange, L. L. C.547 U.S. 388May 15, 2006 · 547 U.S. 388Economic activity9–0Unanimous band
- Diamond, Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks v. Bradley et al450 U.S. 381Mar 9, 1981 · 450 U.S. 381Economic activity4–45–4 band
- Diamond, Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks v. Diehr et al.450 U.S. 175Mar 3, 1981 · 450 U.S. 175Economic activity5–45–4 band
- Parker, Acting Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks v. Flook437 U.S. 584Jun 22, 1978 · 437 U.S. 584Economic activity6–36–3 band
- Dann, Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks v. Johnston425 U.S. 219Mar 31, 1976 · 425 U.S. 219Economic activity7–0Unanimous band
- Gottschalk, Acting Commissioner of Patents v. Benson et al.409 U.S. 63Nov 20, 1972 · 409 U.S. 63Economic activity6–0Unanimous band
Data notes
Every other orally argued case with a clear vote, from the 1946 term on, that the Supreme Court Database files under the same issue as this one. The database gives each case one issue from a list of about 270 (abortion, search and seizure of vehicles, the death penalty, and so on), whatever law it turned on.
Official record
Read the full opinion on Justia, the argument audio on Oyez and Wikipedia. Case data from the Supreme Court Database, Version 2026 Release 01, through the 2025 term.