An Overview of Recent U.S. Supreme Court Jurisprudence in Patent Law Page: 2 of 23
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An Overview of Recent U.S. Supreme Court
Jurisprudence in Patent Law
Summary
The U.S. patent law is subject to change through legislation, the regulations and
rules of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and judicial interpretation. The 109th
Congress considered, without passing, legislation that would have significantly
reformed provisions of the Patent Act; similar patent bills may be introduced in the
110th Congress. In 2006, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued requests for
public comments regarding its proposed rule amendments and new guidelines
governing the patent application and approval process.
Patent law jurisprudence is continually being developed through litigation over
activities that allegedly infringe a patent holder's rights. The losing party in these
cases may appeal the district court's decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Federal Circuit, a specialized tribunal established by Congress that has exclusive
appellate jurisdiction in patent cases. Parties dissatisfied with the Federal Circuit's
rulings may petition the U.S. Supreme Court to review the appellate court's decision.
However, the Supreme Court is not required to entertain the appeal; it has discretion
to decide whether to grant certiorari to review the case. While the Supreme Court
has left the Federal Circuit's opinions undisturbed in the vast majority of patent cases
since the creation of the specialized patent court in 1982, the Court has shown, over
the past three terms, an increased willingness to hear cases that raise patent law
issues. The Supreme Court Justices' apparent new found interest in patent cases
perhaps stems from a recognition of the growing importance of intellectual property
to the nation's information-based economy, as well as a need to correct perceived
errors in lower courts' interpretation and application of patent law.
This report provides a brief summary of the Supreme Court's patent law
jurisprudence in the following eight cases that have been argued or decided since
2005: Merck KGaA v. Integra Lifesciences I, Unitherm Food Systems v.
Swift-Eckrich, Illinois Tool Works v. Independent Ink, eBay v. MercExchange,
Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings v. Metabolite Labs., MedImmune v.
Genentech, KSR International v. Teleflex, and Microsoft v. AT&T.
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An Overview of Recent U.S. Supreme Court Jurisprudence in Patent Law, report, March 16, 2007; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc810161/m1/2/: accessed April 22, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.