Microsoft v. i4i Limited Partnership
Disclosure: Goldstein, Howe & Russell represent 3M Company et al. as amici curiae in support of respondents.
Holding: Section 282 of the Patent Act requires an invalidity defense to be proved by clear and convincing evidence. (Roberts, C.J., recused.)
Judgment: Affirmed, 8-0, in an opinion by Justice Sonia Sotomayor on June 9, 2011. Justice Breyer filed a concurring opinion, which was joined by Justices Scalia and Alito. Justice Thomas filed an opinion concurring in the judgment. (Roberts, C.J., recused).
SCOTUSblog Coverage
- Thursday's opinions in Plain English (Lisa Tucker, June 12, 2011)
- Commentary: Court retains high standard for proving patents invalid (Ronald Mann, June 10, 2011)
- Argument recap: Court looks to broader question of patent validity (Ronald Mann, April 19, 2011)
- Court takes up standard of patent validity (Ronald Mann, April 12, 2011)
- Petition of the day (Conor McEvily, September 29, 2010)
Briefs and Documents
Merits Briefs
Amicus Briefs
- Brief for the Bar Association of the District of Columbia Patent, Trademark and Copyright Section in Support of Neither Party
- Brief for Apotex, Inc. in Support of Petitioner
- Brief for Professor Lee A. Hollaar in Support of Petitioner
- Brief for Synerx Pharma, LLC in Support of Petitioner
- Brief for the American Intellectual Property Law Association in Support of Neither Party
- Brief for the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association and the Clearing House Association in Support of Petitioner
- Brief for Roberta J. Morris, ESQ., Ph.D. in Support of Neither Party
- Brief for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Public Knowledge, and Apache Software Foundation in Support of Petitioner
- Brief for Google, Inc., Verizon Communications, Inc., Consumer Electronics Association, Comcast Corp., Dell Computer Corp., Hewitt-Packard Co., HTC Corp., Intuit Inc., L-3 Communications Corp., Linkedin Corp., Lockheed Martin Corp., Mastercard Worldwide, the New York Times Company, Rackspace Hosting Inc., Red Hat, Inc., Shutterfly, Inc., Software and Information Industry Association, Time Warner Inc., Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., and Zynga Inc. in Support of Petitioner
- Brief for the Hercules Open-Source Project in Support of Petitioner
- Brief for Internet Retailers in Support of Petitioner
- Brief for Federation Internationale Des Conseils En Propriete Industrielle in Support of Neither Party
- Brief for the Business Software in Support of Petitioner
- Brief for the EMC Corporation in Support of Petitioner
- Brief for the Public Patent Foundation in Support of Petitioner
- Brief for the International Business Machines Corporation in Support of Neither Party
- Brief for Apple Inc. and Intel Corporation in Support of Reversal
- Brief for SAP America, Inc. Acushnet Company, Facebook, Inc., General Motors, LLC, Pregis Corporation, Symantec Corporation, Terex Corporation, and Yahoo! Inc. in Support of Petitioner
- Brief for CTIA-The Wireless Association in Support of Petitioner
- Brief for the Computer and Communications Industry Association in Support of Petitioner
- Brief for Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. in Support of Vacation
- Brief for Cisco Systems, Inc., eBay, Inc., Netflix, Inc., Office Depot, Inc., Toyota Motor Corporation, and Trimble Navigation Limited in Support of Petitioner
- Brief for 37 Law, Business, and Economics Professors in Support of Petitioner
- Brief for Timex Group USA, Inc., MacDermid, Inc., Gem Manufacturing, Inc., Perfect 10 Antenna Company, Inc., and Carson Optical, Inc. in Support of Petitioner
- Brief for Amicour IP Group, LLC in Support of Respondents
- Brief for elcommerce.com.inc. in Support of Respondents
- Brief for the United States in Support of Respondents
- Brief for Project FastLane Inc. in Support of Respondents
- Brief for Unity Semiconductor Corp. in Support of Respondents
- Brief for Eagle Harbor Holdings, LLC in Support of Respondents
- Brief for Seven Retired Naval Officers in Support of Respondents
- Brief for Genentech et al. in Support of Respondents
- Brief for 3M Company et al. in Support of Respondents
- Brief for Venture Capital Firms Aberdare Ventures et al. in Support of Respondents
- Brief for an Association of Practicing Entities in Support of Respondents
- Brief for Bayer AG in Support of Respondents
- Brief for Biotechnology Industry Organization et al. in Support of Respondents
- Brief for The Boston Patent Law Association in Support of Respondents
- Brief for Former USPTO Commissioners and Directors in Support of Respondents
- Brief for Intellectual Property Owners Association in Support of Respondents
- Brief for Intellectual Ventures Management et al. in Support of Respondents
- Brief for IP Advocate in Support of Respondents
- Brief for Dr. Ron D. Katznelson in Support of Respondents
- Brief for The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America in Support of Respondents
- Brief for San Diego Intellectual Property Law Association and Connect in Support of Respondents
- Brief for Triantafyllos Tafas, PhD in Support of Respondents
- Brief for Tessera, Inc. et al. in Support of Respondents
- Brief for University Patent Owners and Licensees et al. in Support of Respondents
Certiorari-stage documents