In this episode, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirms a judgment against Ingevity Corporation for violating federal antitrust laws through an illegal tying arrangement. The core of the dispute involves Ingevity conditioning the licensing of its automotive emissions patent on the requirement that customers exclusively purchase its unpatented carbon honeycombs, which the jury determined were staple goods with substantial non-infringing uses. Because these honeycombs were found to be common articles of commerce rather than components unique to the patented invention, the court rejected Ingevity's claims of patent misuse protection and litigation immunity. Ultimately, the court upheld the jury's damages award of over $28 million, concluding that Ingevity’s anticompetitive conduct was a material cause of the economic harm suffered by its competitor, BASF.

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