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United States v. Arthrex Inc.
Consolidated with:
| Docket No. | Op. Below | Argument | Opinion | Vote | Author | Term |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19-1434 | Fed. Cir. | Mar 1, 2021 | Jun 21, 2021 | 5-4 | Roberts | OT 2020 |
Disclosure: Goldstein & Russell, P.C., whose attorneys contribute to this blog in various capacities, is counsel on an amicus brief in support of the respondents in this case.
Holding: The unreviewable authority wielded by Administrative Patent Judges during inter partes review is incompatible with their appointment by the Secretary of Commerce to an inferior office.
Judgment: Vacated and remanded, 5-4, in an opinion by Chief Justice Roberts on June 21, 2021. Justices Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett joined Parts I and II of the opinion, and Justices Alito, Kavanaugh and Barrett joined Part III of the opinion. Justice Gorsuch filed an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part. Justice Breyer filed an opinion concurring in the judgment in part and dissenting in part, in which Justices Sotomayor and Kagan joined. Justice Thomas filed a dissenting opinion, in which Justices Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan joined as to Parts I and II.
SCOTUSblog Coverage
- Justices craft their own remedy for violation of Constitution’s appointments clause (George Quillin and Jeanne Gills, June 24, 2021)
- Justices scale back “unreviewable authority” of administrative patent judges (George Quillin and Jeanne Gills, June 21, 2021)
- Justices appear conflicted about status of administrative patent judges (George Quillin and Jeanne Gills, March 3, 2021)
- Justices to consider appointments clause challenge to administrative patent judges (George Quillin and Jeanne Gills, February 26, 2021)
- February argument calendar includes immigration, voting-rights cases (Amy Howe, December 31, 2020)
- Supreme Court will consider constitutional status of administrative patent judges (Amy Howe, October 13, 2020)
- Relist Watch: Worst Monday in October (John Elwood, October 7, 2020)
- Petitions of the week: Abortion, alcohol, appointments and more (Andrew Hamm, July 30, 2020)
| Date | Proceedings and Orders |
|---|---|
| Jun 25 2020 | Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due July 29, 2020) |
| Jul 20 2020 | Blanket Consent filed by Respondents, Smith & Nephew, Inc., et al.VIDED |
| Jul 20 2020 | Blanket Consent filed by Respondent, Arthrex, Inc.VIDED |
| Jul 20 2020 | Blanket Consent filed by Petitioner, United States VIDED |
| Jul 22 2020 | Blanket Consent filed by Respondent, Polaris Innovations Limited VIDED |
| Jul 23 2020 | Brief of respondents Smith & Nephew, Inc., et al. filed. VIDED |
| Jul 24 2020 | Response to petition from respondent Arthrex, Inc. filed. VIDED. |
| Jul 29 2020 | Brief amicus curiae of Askeladden L.L.C. filed. |
| Jul 29 2020 | Brief amicus curiae of The New York Intellectual Property Law Association filed. VIDED. |
| Aug 12 2020 | DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/29/2020. |
| Oct 05 2020 | DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/9/2020. |
| Oct 13 2020 | Petition GRANTED as to Federal Circuit case No. 2018-2140, and the petitions for writs of certiorari in Nos. 19-1452 and 19-1458 are 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 2020 | Because 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.” |
| Oct 21 2020 | Petitioners in Nos. 19-1434 and 19-1452 shall each file an opening brief, limited to 13,000 words, on or before Wednesday, November 25, 2020. Amicus curiae briefs in support of petitioners in Nos. 19-1434 or 19-1452, or in support of no party, shall be filed on or before Wednesday, December 2, 2020, and the briefs shall bear a light green cover. Petitioner in No. 19-1458 shall file a consolidated opening and response brief, limited to 17,000 words, on or before Wednesday, December 23, 2020. Amicus curiae briefs in support of petitioner in No. 19-1458 shall be filed on or before Wednesday, December 30, 2020, and the briefs shall bear a dark green cover. Petitioners in Nos. 19-1434 and 19-1452 shall each file a consolidated response and reply brief, limited to 14,500 words, on or before Friday, January 22, 2021. Petitioner in No. 19-1458 shall file a reply brief, limited to 6,000 words, pursuant to Rule 25.3 of the Rules of this Court. VIDED. |
| Oct 23 2020 | Motion to dispense with printing the joint appendix filed by the United States. VIDED. |
| Oct 28 2020 | Blanket Consent filed by Respondent, Smith & Nephew, Inc., et al. |
| Oct 29 2020 | Blanket Consent filed by Respondent, Arthrex, Inc. |
| Nov 03 2020 | Blanket Consent filed by Petitioner, United States |
| Nov 09 2020 | Motion to dispense with printing the joint appendix filed by the United States GRANTED. VIDED. |
| Nov 25 2020 | Opening brief of United States filed. VIDED. |
| Nov 25 2020 | Opening brief of Smith & Nephew, Inc., et al. filed. VIDED. |
| Dec 01 2020 | Brief amicus curiae of Professor John Harrison in support of neither party filed. VIDED. |
| Dec 01 2020 | Brief amici curiae of Acushnet Company and Roger Cleveland Golf Inc. filed. VIDED. |
| Dec 01 2020 | Brief amicus curiae of Professor Andrew Michaels in support of neither party filed. VIDED. |
| Dec 01 2020 | Brief amicus curiae of Coalition Against Patent Abuse in support of neither party filed. VIDED. |
| Dec 02 2020 | Brief amicus curiae of Association for Accessible Medicines filed. VIDED. |
| Dec 02 2020 | Brief amici curiae of Cross-Industry Groups filed. VIDED. |
| Dec 02 2020 | Brief amicus curiae of Unified Patents, LLC in support of neither party and of reversal filed. VIDED. |
| Dec 02 2020 | Brief amicus curiae of Intel Corp. filed. VIDED. |
| Dec 02 2020 | Brief amicus curiae of Askeladden L.L.C. filed. VIDED |
| Dec 02 2020 | Brief amici curiae of Engine Advocacy and Electronic Frontier Foundation filed. VIDED. |
| Dec 02 2020 | Brief amici curiae of Administrative, Constitutional & Intellectual Property Law Professors filed. VIDED. |
| Dec 02 2020 | Amicus brief of Administrative, Constitutional & Intellectual Property Law Professors not accepted for filing. (Dupilicate submission) (December 07, 2020) |
| Dec 02 2020 | Brief amicus curiae of The Intellectual Property Law Association of Chicago filed. VIDED. |
| Dec 02 2020 | Brief amicus curiae of Apple Inc. in support of neither party filed. VIDED. |
| Dec 02 2020 | Brief amicus curiae of High Tech Inventors Alliance filed. VIDED. |
| Dec 02 2020 | Brief amicus curiae of Niskanen Center filed. VIDED. |
| Dec 02 2020 | Brief amicus curiae of eComp Consultants filed. VIDED. |
| Dec 02 2020 | Brief amici curiae of Computer & Communications Industry Association, et al. filed. VIDED. |
| Dec 02 2020 | Brief amicus curiae of Jason V. Morgan filed (in 19-1434). |
| Dec 02 2020 | Brief amicus curiae of American Intellectual Property Law Association filed. VIDED. |
| Dec 23 2020 | Motion of the Acting Solicitor General for divided argument filed. VIDED. |
| Dec 23 2020 | Brief of respondent Arthrex, Inc. filed. VIDED. |
| Dec 29 2020 | Brief amicus curiae of Pacific Legal Foundation filed. VIDED. |
| Dec 29 2020 | Brief amici curiae of 39 Aggrieved Inventors filed. VIDED. |
| Dec 29 2020 | Brief amicus curiae of B.E. Technology, LLC filed. VIDED. |
| Dec 30 2020 | Brief amicus curiae of TiVo Corporation filed. VIDED. |
| Dec 30 2020 | Brief amicus curiae of U.S. Lumber Coalition filed. VIDED. |
| Dec 30 2020 | Brief amici curiae of Americans for Prosperity Foundation and TechFreedom filed. VIDED |
| Dec 30 2020 | Amicus brief of New Civil Liberties Alliance not accepted for filing. (Corrected version to be submitted). |
| Dec 30 2020 | Brief amicus curiae of New Civil Liberties Alliance filed (Jan. 5, 2021). VIDED. |
| Dec 30 2020 | Brief amicus curiae of US Inventor, Inc. filed. VIDED. |
| Dec 30 2020 | Brief amicus curiae of Jeremy C. Doerre filed. VIDED. |
| Dec 30 2020 | Brief amici curiae of Cato Institute and Prof. Gregory Dolin filed. VIDED. |
| Dec 30 2020 | Brief amicus curiae of Fair Inventing Fund filed. VIDED. |
| Dec 30 2020 | Brief amicus curiae of Joshua J. Malone filed. VIDED. |
| Dec 31 2020 | SET FOR ARGUMENT on Monday, March 1, 2021. VIDED. |
| Jan 11 2021 | Motion for divided argument filed by the Acting Solicitor General GRANTED. VIDED. |
| Jan 14 2021 | CIRCULATED |
| Jan 22 2021 | Consolidated reply and response brief filed by the United States. VIDED. (Distributed) |
| Jan 22 2021 | Consolidated response and reply of Smith & Nephew, Inc., et al. filed. VIDED. (Distributed) |
| Jan 25 2021 | Record requested from the U.S.C.A. for the Federal Circuit. |
| Feb 09 2021 | The record from the U.S.C.A. Federal Circuit is electronic and located on Pacer. |
| Feb 19 2021 | Reply of respondent Arthrex, Inc. filed. VIDED. (Distributed) |
| Mar 01 2021 | Argued. 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. |
| Jun 21 2021 | Judgment VACATED and case REMANDED. Roberts, C. J., delivered the opinion of the Court with respect to Parts I and II, in which Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett, JJ., joined, and an opinion with respect to Part III, in which Alito, Kavanaugh, and Barrett, JJ., joined. Gorsuch, J., filed an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part. Breyer, J., filed an opinion concurring in the judgment in part and dissenting in part, in which Sotomayor and Kagan, JJ., joined. Thomas, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan, JJ., joined as to Parts I and II. VIDED. |
| Jul 23 2021 | JUDGMENT ISSUED. |
