On Monday, the Supreme Court denied certiorari in the Saint Regis Mohawk v. Mylan case, bringing to a close a nearly 18-month-long attempt to sell tribal sovereign immunity as a shield against the inter partes review (IPR) process.
Tag Archive for SCOTUS
PTAB Will Continue To Double-Check Its Work—All Of It
by Josh Landau •
Today, the Supreme Court issued two opinions in cases focused on the inter partes review (IPR) procedure. First, in Oil States v. Greene’s Energy Group, the Court upheld the constitutionality of IPR by a 7-2 vote. Second, in a more narrowly divided 5-4 decision in SAS v. Matal, the Court decided that the PTAB’s practice…
SCOTUS Will Decide Whether Foreign Infringement Can Create Lost Profits
by Josh Landau •
Last Friday, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in WesternGeco v. ION Geophysical. Essentially, the case asks whether, when components for a patented process or machine are manufactured in the U.S. and combined or used abroad, the profits lost due to the foreign activities can be considered lost profits and awarded as damages under U.S. patent…
SCOTUS Taking Case On Partial Institution Of IPRs
by Josh Landau •
One of the biggest changes coming out of the 2011 America Invents Act (AIA) was the creation of the inter partes review (IPR) procedure, which allows people to challenge the validity of patents after they’ve issued. Today, the Supreme Court granted certiorari to determine whether an IPR can be “instituted” on only some of the…
CCIA Files Amicus Brief in CLS Bank, Urging Supreme Court to Adopt a New Test on Patent-Eligibility of Software
by Ali Sternburg •
Today, CCIA filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank. CLS Bank is one of six patent cases this term, including two that were heard yesterday. For more background information on the case and policy issues presented, see this in-depth article from today by The Washington Post’s Tim Lee. CCIA’s brief proposed a…
Will SCOTUS Do Anything About Fee-Shifting?
by Matt Levy •
Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in two related patent cases, Octane Fitness LLC v. ICON Health & Fitness LLC and Highmark Inc. v. Allmark Health Management Systems. Both cases have to do with the standard for fee-shifting in patent cases, but it’s the Octane case that is the most relevant. The statute, 35…
Tell Me Again Why We Have a Federal Circuit?
by Matt Levy •

The Supreme Court just issued a decision in the Medtronic case, and it was a unanimous reversal of the Federal Circuit. Since the Supreme Court first reviewed a patent decision by the Federal Circuit in 1996 (the Federal Circuit was formed in 1982, but it was 14 years before the first review by the Supreme…
SCOTUS Takes on Patents in a Big Way
by Matt Levy •
Updated (1/23/14): Medtronic has been decided. The Federal Circuit was unanimously reversed. You can read the opinion here. At the end of last week, the Supreme Court granted petitions for certiorari for two more patent cases. That means that there will probably be six patent cases decided this term. And several of them are big. Here’s…