A case related to the patent for the friction welding method
AIP represented a company, which W company, a right-holder of the patent for the method that uses probe for friction welding, filed a damage suit against. AIP won the suit with the ruling that it is a non-infringement not only for the difference of elements and also for the theory of exhaustion because probe welding machine was purchased from the patentee’s licensee. This is the first case in which the Supreme Court clarified the legal principles on the theory of the exhaustion regarding the patented process.