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Spider-Man toy designer Stephen Kimble is no longer getting paid for a product whose patent expired five years ago and the Supreme Court cares even less than you do.
When he designed and sold his toy to Marvel, Kimble was promised 3 percent in royalties. The agreement with Marvel had no expiration date, but once the patent expired Marvel argued that it should no longer have to pay him royalties.
According to Justice Elana Kagan and the majority decision, “Patents endow their holders with certain superpowers, but only for a limited time.”
Kimble had requested that the Supreme Court overrule a 50-year-old case that prevents licensing agreements from paying out royalties after a patent ends, Mashable reported.
His lawyers argued that a decision to let companies stop paying royalties “harms the American economy and suppresses innovation.”
But a majority of the Supreme Court justices ruled that Marvel would not have to pay Kimble over the expired patent, with three justices dissenting.
Kagan wrote the majority opinion. She defended the ruling in Brulotte v. Thys Co. as established precedent, and ended her opinion by sharing a quote by the Stan Lee that should have significance to any Spider-Man fan:
“With great power there must also come — great responsibility.”
