{ "id": "RL33923", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "RL33923", "active": false, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 370520, "date": "2010-09-17", "retrieved": "2016-04-07T01:28:55.505106", "title": "An Overview of Recent U.S. Supreme Court Jurisprudence in Patent Law", "summary": "Patent law jurisprudence is continually being developed through litigation over activities that allegedly infringe a patent holder\u2019s rights. The losing party in these cases may appeal the district court\u2019s 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\u2019s rulings may petition the U.S. Supreme Court to review the appellate court\u2019s 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\u2019s 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 several terms, an increased willingness to hear cases that raise patent law issues. The Supreme Court Justices\u2019 apparent newfound interest in patent cases perhaps stems from a recognition of the growing importance of intellectual property to the nation\u2019s information-based economy, as well as a desire to correct perceived errors in lower courts\u2019 interpretation and application of patent law.\nThis report provides a brief summary of the Supreme Court\u2019s patent law jurisprudence in the following nine cases that have been 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 Co. v. Teleflex Inc., Microsoft v. AT&T, Quanta Computer, Inc. v. LG Electronics, Inc., and Bilski v. Kappos.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RL33923", "sha1": "c36097ab7969678425b256c3b51d748c1f9cd943", "filename": "files/20100917_RL33923_c36097ab7969678425b256c3b51d748c1f9cd943.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL33923", "sha1": "8f3b5390f260225f15e12aeb377e1053416dabe8", "filename": "files/20100917_RL33923_8f3b5390f260225f15e12aeb377e1053416dabe8.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc811238/", "id": "RL33923_2009Mar26", "date": "2009-03-26", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "An Overview of Recent U.S. Supreme Court Jurisprudence in Patent Law", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20090326_RL33923_0d7c1c47ec5df2f0e07f8b54a0395d77a76f5003.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20090326_RL33923_0d7c1c47ec5df2f0e07f8b54a0395d77a76f5003.html" } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc821273/", "id": "RL33923_2007Jun06", "date": "2007-06-06", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "An Overview of Recent U.S. Supreme Court Jurisprudence in Patent Law", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20070606_RL33923_688e8b5285687ce37aac286dfccdd869e425b004.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20070606_RL33923_688e8b5285687ce37aac286dfccdd869e425b004.html" } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc810161/", "id": "RL33923_2007Mar16", "date": "2007-03-16", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "An Overview of Recent U.S. Supreme Court Jurisprudence in Patent Law", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20070316_RL33923_34234d160d4663a5d6c84a581d66a4f49293ce5c.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20070316_RL33923_34234d160d4663a5d6c84a581d66a4f49293ce5c.html" } ], "topics": [] } ], "topics": [] }