Wegner Updates his "Top Ten Supreme Court Patent Cases"

"Not since the Supreme Court granted certiorari in seven patent cases in 1965 has there been as much patent law activity at the Court as today," writes Professor Wegner in the prelude to his update on the Top Ten Supreme Court Patent Cases. "In all likelihood four or more cases in the Top Ten list will be heard or will have certiorari granted this term:"

1. The Metabolite Patent-Eligibility Case: Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings v. Metabolite Laboratories, Inc., Supreme Court No. 04­607: Briefing schedule through January 2005; hearing February-April 2006; decision by June 2006.
2. The Schering-Plough Reverse Payments Antitrust Case: Federal Trade Comm’n v. Schering-Plough Corp., Supreme Court No. 05­273: Order outstanding asking the Solicitor General for the opinion of the United States whether to grant certiorari. The recent 2005 Second Circuit Tamoxifen opinion adds fuel to the certiorari fire.
3. The KSR Obviousness Case: KSR Intern. Co. v. Teleflex Inc., Supreme Court No. 04-1350: Order outstanding asking the Solicitor General for the opinion of the United States whether to grant certiorari.
4. The eBay Injunctive Relief Case: eBay, Inc. v. MercExchange, LLC, Supreme Court No. 05-130: Already thrice scheduled for a conference, a decision whether to grant certiorari may be forthcoming as early as November 14, 2005.
5. The Illinois Tool Market Share Case: Illinois Tool Works, Inc. v. Independent Ink, Inc., Supreme Court No. 04-1329: Argument is scheduled for November 29, 2005; a decision is likely by the end of January 2006 (but in any event by June 2006).
6. Unitherm Sufficiency of the Evidence Case: Unitherm Food Systems, Inc. v. Swift Eckrich, Inc., Supreme Court No. 04-597: A decision is expected before the end of 2005. (Oral argument took place on November 2, 2005).
7. SmithKline Paroxetine Case: SmithKline Beecham Corp. v. Apotex Corp., No. 05-489. Briefing stage for certiorari.
8. Phillips Claim .Construction Case: AWH Corp. v. Phillips, No. 05A292. Briefing stage for certiorari.
9. BlackBerry Extraterritoriality Case [future]: Research In Motion, Ltd. v. NTP, Inc., certiorari petition due January 5, 2006, opinion below, NTP, Inc. v. Research In Motion, Ltd., 418 F.3d 1282 (Fed. Cir. 2005).
10. Tamoxifen Reverse Payments Antitrust Case [future]: In re Tamoxifen Citrate Antitrust Litigation, __ F.3d __, 2005 WL 2l 864654 (2nd Cir. 2005

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