Supreme Court Rules Against the FCC, but Avoids First Amendment Issues By Sarah Jeong – Edited by Jennifer Wong Federal Communications Commission v. Fox Television Stations, Inc., No. 10-1293 (U.S. June 21, 2012) Slip Opinion The Supreme Court ruled last week that the Federal Communication Commission’s (“FCC”) rules on “fleeting expletives” did not give fair notice to networks like Fox and ABC, and were therefore unconstitutionally vague. While all eight justices (Justice Sotomayor recused herself) were unanimous in a judgment ... Read More...

Supreme Court Expands Generic Drug Manufacturers’  Right to Challenge Scope of Patents By Elettra Bietti – Edited by Lauren Henry Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories, Ltd. v Novo Nordisk A/S, No. 10–844 (U.S. April 17, 2012) Slip opinion The Supreme Court reversed the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling that denied a generic manufacturer the right to compel a brand manufacturer to correct misstatements regarding uses covered by a patent when those corrections would have allowed the generic manufacturer to market their ... Read More...

Supreme Court Rejects Diagnostic Process Claims as Unpatentable Laws of Nature By Charlie Stiernberg – Edited by Dorothy Du Mayo Collaborative Servs. v. Prometheus Labs., Inc., No. 10-1150 (U.S. Mar. 20, 2012) Slip Opinion In a unanimous opinion, the Supreme Court reversed a ruling by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that had held Prometheus’ claimed invention, a process that helps doctors determine whether a given dosage of thiopurine drugs is too high or low, was patentable subject ... Read More...

Written by Heather Whitney Edited by Kassity Liu Editorial Policy United States v. Jones (U.S. Jan. 23, 2012) 2012 WL 171117; No. 10-1259 In a hotly anticipated decision, the Supreme Court unanimously found that the Government’s warrantless attachment of a Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking device to a vehicle to monitor its movement constituted a Fourth Amendment violation. While unanimous in judgment, the Court split on both its underlying reasoning and with regards to whether the tracking amounted to a ... Read More...

Supreme Court Hears Arguments on Patent-Eligibility of Medical Protocol Based on Correlations Between Blood Tests and Patient Health By Laura Fishwick – Edited by Michael Hoven Mayo Collaborative Servs. v. Prometheus Labs., Inc., No. 10-1150 (U.S. Dec. 7, 2011) Transcript of Oral Arguments Mayo v. Prometheus returned to the Supreme Court after the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit again held that Prometheus’s method patents covered a particular application of a natural phenomenon, not the natural phenomenon itself, and ... Read More...