Bonito Boats notes 1/21/11

-Bonito Boats: No patent filed for the utilitarian or design aspects of the hull or manufacturing process (sprayed-fiberglass mold) by which the finished boats were produced.

-After 6 years of production, a Florida statute prohibited the use of a direct molding process to duplicate unpatented boat hulls, and the sale of them.

-Bonito Boats filed action against Thunder Craft for violation of the Florida statute.

-Conclusion: dismissed due to confliction with federal patent law, therefore the Supremacy Clause rules federal patent law higher than state law.