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Smith & Nephew Inc. v. Arthrex Inc.

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Consolidated with:

Docket No. Op. Below Argument Opinion Vote Author Term
19-1452 Fed. Cir. Mar 1, 2021 TBD TBD TBD OT 2020

Issues: (1) Whether, for purposes of the Constitution’s appointments clause, administrative patent judges of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office are principal officers who must be appointed by the president with the Senate’s advice and consent, or “inferior Officers” whose appointment Congress has permissibly vested in a department head; and (2) whether, if administrative patent judges are principal officers, the court of appeals properly cured any appointments clause defect in the current statutory scheme prospectively by severing the application of 5 U.S.C. § 7513(a) to those judges.

SCOTUSblog Coverage

DateProceedings and Orders (key to color coding)
Jun 29 2020Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due August 3, 2020)
Jul 20 2020Blanket Consent filed by Petitioners, Smith & Nephew, Inc., et al. VIDED
Jul 20 2020Blanket Consent filed by Respondent, Arthrex, Inc. VIDED
Jul 20 2020Blanket Consent filed by Respondent, United States VIDED
Jul 22 2020Memorandum of respondent United States filed. VIDED.
Jul 24 2020Response to petition from respondent Arthrex, Inc. filed. VIDED.
Aug 03 2020Brief amicus curiae of Comcast Cable Communications, LLC filed.
Aug 12 2020DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/29/2020.
Aug 14 2020Reply of petitioners Smith & Nephew, Inc., et al. filed. (Distributed)
Oct 05 2020DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/9/2020.
Oct 13 2020Petition GRANTED, the petition for a writ of certiorari in No. 19-1434 is granted as to Federal Circuit case No. 2018-2140, and the petition for a writ of certiorari in No. 19-1458 is granted, all limited to Questions 1 and 2 as set forth in the July 22, 2020 Memorandum for the United States. The cases are consolidated, and a total of one hour is allotted for oral argument. VIDED.
Oct 13 2020Because the Court has consolidated these cases for briefing and oral argument, future filings and activity in the cases will now be reflected on the docket of No. 19-1434. Subsequent filings in these cases must therefore be submitted through the electronic filing system in No. 19-1434. Each document submitted in connection with one or more of these cases must include on its cover the case number and caption for each case in which the filing is intended to be submitted. Where a filing is submitted in fewer than all of the cases, the docket entry will reflect the case number(s) in which the filing is submitted; a document filed in all of the consolidated cases will be noted as “VIDED.”
Dec 31 2020SET FOR ARGUMENT on Monday, March 1, 2021. VIDED.
Jan 14 2021CIRCULATED
Jan 25 2021Record requested from the U.S.C.A.Federal Circuit.
Feb 24 2021The record from U.S.C.A. Federal Circuit is electronic and located on Pacer.
Mar 01 2021Argued. For United States: Malcolm L. Stewart, Deputy Solicitor General, Department of Justice, Washington, D. C. For Smith & Nephew, Inc., et al.: Mark A. Perry, Washington, D. C. For Arthrex, Inc.: Jeffrey A. Lamken, Washington, D. C. VIDED.