One meaning of exhausting is "using up" (like exhausting a resource). In copyright and patent law, there is an idea that the rights of the copyright holder or p

One meaning of exhausting is "using up" (like exhausting a resource). In copyright and patent law, there is an idea that the rights of the copyright holder or patent holder only extend so far, and can be in effect "used up" in certain contexts so that they don't have further rights to restrict other people's activities. This case related to such a situation. Edit: Wikipedia describes this at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exhaustion_of_intellectual_property_rights https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exhaustion_of_intellectual_pro... and in a lot more detail at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exhaustion_doctrine_under_U.S._law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exhaustion_doctrine_under_U.S....