In Kimble v. Marvel Entertainment, LLC the US Supreme Court, while acknowledging the criticism of other judges and scholars, chose to uphold the long-standing rule in Brulotte v. Thys Co., 379 U.S. 29 (1964), that renders unenforceable an agreement requiring payment of royalties for a patent after that patent expires. While Brulotte remains good law, Kimble enumerates several Supreme Court-sanctioned workarounds for parties seeking to extend royalty fee payments beyond the life of a patent.
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