Legal Opinion
Bonito Boats, Inc. v. Thunder Craft Boats, Inc.
Supreme Court of the United States
Decided February 21, 1989No. 87-1346PublishedCited by 615 opinions
1Opinion of the CourtJustice O’Connor
We must decide today what limits the operation of the federal patent system places on the States’ ability to offer substantial protection to utilitarian and design ideas which the patent laws leave otherwise unprotected. In Interpart Corp. v. Italia, 777 F. 2d 678 (1985), the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit concluded that a California law prohibiting the use of the “direct molding process” to duplicate unpat-ented articles posed no threat to the policies behind the federal patent laws. In this case, the Florida Supreme Court came to a contrary conclusion. It struck down a Florida…
2Cases cited33 opinions
- Graham v. John Deere Co. of Kansas CitySupreme Court of the United States · 1966
- Rice v. Santa Fe Elevator Corp.Supreme Court of the United States · 1947
- Florida Lime & Avocado Growers, Inc. v. PaulSupreme Court of the United States · 1963
- United States v. BassSupreme Court of the United States · 1971
- Inwood Laboratories, Inc. v. Ives Laboratories, Inc.Supreme Court of the United States · 1982
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3Cited by615 opinions
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- Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd. PartnershipSupreme Court of the United States · 2011
- Festo Corp. v. Shoketsu Kinzoku Kogyo Kabushiki Co.Supreme Court of the United States · 2002
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