Marvel Wins Legal Battle Over Spider-Man's Web Blasters

06/22/2015 11:05 am EDT

The Supreme Court has ruled in favor of Marvel Enterprises in a legal suit regarding Spider-Man's Web Blaster toys.

According to THR, the Supreme Court upheld a ruling that lets Marvel Enterprises out of their previous agreement to pay royalties to Stephen Kimble, the inventor who created the toys. Kimble patented his Web Blaster idea in 1990, and sued Marvel for patent infringement when they began selling similar toys with Spider-Man branding. Marvel and Kimble reached a settlement in 2001 that awarded Kimble three percent of net sales. Kimble has earned more than $6 million from that deal, but problems arose when Marvel licensed the toy to Hasbro, leading to arguments over the calculation of royalties.

Marvel cited the 1964 case Brulotte v. Thys Co., which ruled that patent holders were forbidden from collecting royalties after their patent's expiration date. Kimble argued that the ruling was outdated, but Justice Elana Kagan said that stare decisis – the practice of determining points of litigation according to precedent – means that the previous decision must stand.

"What we can decide, we can undecide," she writes in her ruling. "But stare decisis teaches that we should exercise that authority sparingly."

Kagan then goes on to quote the most famous line from Spider-Man comics ever.

"In this world, with great power there must also come great responsibility."

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