On September 27, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in Rimini Street, Inc. v. Oracle USA, Inc.,[1] in order to resolve a split in the circuits related to prevailing copyright litigant’s awarding of “full costs,” and whether that means only taxable costs under 28 U.S.C. §1920 – court and witness fees, copying costs, expert …
Category: scotus watch
IP decisions from the u.s. supreme court
SCOTUS Watch: Is the U.S. Government a Person?
An interesting question has been presented to the U.S. Supreme Court when it granted a writ of certiorari on October 26, 2018. That is, is the United States Government, through one of its agencies, a “person” for purposes of the America Invents Act (AIA), the most recent Patent Act from 2012. The case, Return Mail …
SCOTUS Watch: Supreme Court to Hear Case of What “Registration” Means
On June 28, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the petition for writ of certiorari in Fourth Estate Pub. Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, LLC. The justices took up the case to resolve a split in the circuits surrounding the definition of “registration” within the meaning of 17 U.S.C. §411(a), the copyright infringement statute. Currently, the …
SCOTUS Watch: Patent Damages Extends to Foreign Lost Profits
On June 22, 2018, the United States Supreme Court handed down its decision in the case, WesternGeco LLC v. ION Geophysical Corp.,[1] which will change the landscape for patent damages because foreign lost profits can now be assessed in patent infringement judgments. The facts are as follows. WesternGeco owns four patents directed to systems for ocean …
SCOTUS Watch: Challenge to Secret AIA On-Sale Bar as Helsinn Granted Certiorari
On June 25, 2018, the United States Supreme Court granted the petition for writ of certiorari requested by Helsinn Healthcare S.A. In the appellate case which had been winding its way through the federal courts, Helsinn Healthcare S.A. v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc.,[1] the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled against Helsinn in …
SCOTUS Watch: Supreme Court Vacates CBM Scope Definition
On May 14, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court granted PNC Bank National Assoc.’s petition for writ of certiorari and vacated the Fed Circuit’s ruling limiting the scope of a covered business method (CBM), in PNC Bank Nat’l Ass’n v. Secure Axcess, LLC.[1] The Supreme Court, in its orders, wrote: The petition for writ of certiorari …
SCOTUS Watch: No PTAB Partial Review of Claims
In the second of two patent decisions handed down by the United States Supreme Court on April 24, 2018, SAS Inst. Inc. v. Iancu[1] was the less visible of the two cases. However, SAS’s close split decision and more practical effect on the patent practice will make it the much more important patent case handed …
SCOTUS Watch: IPRs Do Not Violate Article III or Seventh Amendment
Article III of the U.S. Constitution states: The judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.[1] Also, the Copyright and Patent Clause of the U.S. Constitution states: The Congress shall have power . . …
WesternGeco Damages Case Before SCOTUS in Doubt After Fed Circuit Ruling
A recently-issued decision from the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit may have implications on a pending case before the U.S. Supreme Court. That case, WesternGeco LLC v. ION Geophysical Corp.,[1] was issued May 7, 2018, and may affect how the Supreme Court rules in a related case involving the same parties and patents …
SCOTUS Watch: Tech & Privacy Collision Avoided When Microsoft Email Server Case Dismissed as Moot
Normally, this blog is devoted to intellectual property issues specific to technology, much of which is case law analysis primarily in the areas of patent, trademark, and copyright laws. However, as is often the case in real-life when different laws clash, so do intellectual properties with other areas of law. The right of privacy is …