Supreme Court Report

Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →

SAS Institute Inc. v. Andrei Iancu, Director, United States Patent and Trademark Office, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, No. 2015-1346, 2015-1347 · judgment June 10, 2016

Decided · April 24, 2018
At-filing estimate: 3% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Question presented

Does 35 U.S.C. § 318(a), which provides that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board in an inter partes review "shall issue a final written decision with respect to the patentability of any patent claim challenged by the petitioner," require that Board to issue a final written decision as to every claim challenged by the petitioner, or does it allow that Board to issue a final written decision with respect to the patentability of only some of the patent claims challenged by the petitioner, as the Federal Circuit held?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Gregory Andrew Castanias
Jones Day

For respondent
Noel John Francisco
Jones Day

Case

Subject area
Economic Activity (estimated from the questions presented, in the Supreme Court Database’s categories)

Conference history
Distributed for 2 conferences

Amicus briefs
2 merits
(1 supporting pet./neither, 1 respondent)

Order
Order list, October 10, 2017

Argument & decision

Argued November 27, 2017 — Gregory A. Castanias · Jonathan C. Bond. Listen and read along · the Court’s audio

Decided April 24, 2018. Opinion by Gorsuch.

Proceedings

  1. May 29 2018
    JUDGMENT ISSUED.
  2. Apr 24 2018
    Judgment REVERSED and case REMANDED. Gorsuch, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Roberts, C. J., and Kennedy, Thomas, and Alito, JJ., joined. Ginsburg, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan, JJ., joined. Breyer, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Ginsburg and Sotomayor, JJ., joined, and in which Kagan, J., joined except as to Part III-A.
  3. Nov 27 2017
    Argued. For petitioner: Gregory A. Castanias, Washington, D. C. For respondents: Jonathan C. Bond, Assistant to the Solicitor General, Department of Justice, Washington, D. C.
  4. Oct 18 2017
    Record requested from the U.S.C.A. Federal Circuit.
  5. Oct 18 2017
    Record received from the U.S.C.A. Federal Circuit is electronic and located on PACER.
  6. Oct 12 2017
    CIRCULATED
  7. Oct 10 2017
    Motion for divided argument filed by respondent DENIED.
  8. Oct 06 2017
    SET FOR ARGUMENT ON Monday, November 27, 2017
  9. Oct 05 2017
    Reply of petitioner SAS Institute Inc. filed.
  10. Sep 12 2017
    Motion for divided argument filed by respondent ComplementSoft, LLC.
  11. Sep 12 2017
    Brief amicus curiae of Houston Intellectual Property Law Association filed.
  12. Sep 05 2017
    Brief of Federal Respondent filed.
  13. Sep 05 2017
    Brief of respondent ComplementSoft, LLC filed.
  14. Jul 20 2017
    Joint appendix filed. (2 Volumes) (Statement of costs filed)
  15. Jul 20 2017
    Brief of petitioner SAS Institute Inc. filed.
  16. Jul 20 2017
    Brief amicus curiae of Intellectual Property Owners Association filed.
  17. Jun 22 2017
    The time to file the joint appendix and petitioner's brief on the merits is extended to and including July 20, 2017.
  18. Jun 22 2017
    The time to file respondents' brief on the merits is extended to and including September 5, 2017.
  19. May 22 2017
    Petition GRANTED.
  20. May 15 2017
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of May 18, 2017.
  21. Apr 19 2017
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of May 11, 2017.
  22. Apr 17 2017
    Reply of petitioner SAS Institute Inc. filed.
  23. Apr 05 2017
    Brief of Federal Respondents in opposition filed.
  24. Feb 28 2017
    Order extending time to file response to petition to and including April 5, 2017.
  25. Jan 31 2017
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due March 6, 2017)