Law360, New York (April 2, 2015, 5:06 PM EDT) -- On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard argument in Kimble v. Marvel Enterprises Inc. about whether to overturn Brulotte v. Thys Co., 379 U.S. 29 (1964), and eliminate that decision's prohibition on the payment of royalties for the use of a patented invention after the patent's expiration date. The Supreme Court seemed particularly interested in any identifiable economic harm that has resulted from Brulotte and other "special justification" that would permit the court to break with stare decisis, as well as what new rule to impose should the court eliminate Brulotte's per se rule that post-expiration royalties are improper. The Supreme Court's decision in Kimble will affect patent licensors and licensees by either maintaining the bright-line Brulotte rule or adopting a more flexible test, likely based on the extent of the unreasonable, anti-competitive or coercive nature of the particular post-expiration royalties in question....