doctrine of exhaustion

1. Administrative law: Legal principle that, in general, a plaintiff must exhaust all available administrative remedies before seeking judicial review. Also called exhaustion of rights doctrine.

2. Intellectual property: Legal principle that, in general, the first sale of a copyrighted, patented, or trademarked good exhausts the copyright, patent or trademark owner's intellectual property right (IPR) in that he or she cannot control the distribution or resale of the good. Therefore if 'A' (the IPR owner) sells to 'B,' then 'B' can sell to 'C' without the approval of 'A.' Also called doctrine of first sale. See also diversion (Definition 1).