Exhaustion

{
  "id": "MLC-T-LAW-001983",
  "term": "Exhaustion",
  "field": "Law",
  "definition": "The doctrine that an intellectual property owner's control over a particular copy or item ends once that item has been sold with the owner's authority. After the first authorized sale, the buyer can resell, lend, or dispose of that item without permission, although the owner keeps the exclusive right to make new copies. In copyright law the rule is codified as the first sale doctrine, and in patent law it is called patent exhaustion.",
  "url": "https://mlchart.com/terminology/law/exhaustion/"
}