Supreme Court Report

Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →

Smartflash LLC v. Samsung Electronics America, Inc., et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, No. 2016-2451, 2016-2452, 2016-2455, 2016-2457, 2016-2458, 2017-1056, 2017-1102, 2017-1104, 2017-1109, 2017-1110, 2017-1111, 2017-1833, 2017-1834, 2017-1835, 2017-1836, 2017-1837, 2017-1846, 2017-1847 · judgment April 11, 2018

Certiorari denied · October 1, 2018
Pre-decision estimate: 8% cert probability (95% interval 5%–12%)

Before the decision, about 1.9× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for counsel who has won certiorari before, a dissent in the court below (flagged in the petition), and a Federal Circuit decision below, and down for a business respondent.

Questions presented

  1. Whether Administrative Patent Judges of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“Board”) are principal Officers of the United States who must be appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate under the Appointments Clause.

  2. Whether retroactive application of Covered Business Method Review to patents on inventions disclosed before passage of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act violates the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.

  3. Whether undisputed evidence that a patented invention is not unduly preemptive, presented to technically proficient judges of the Board, is relevant to the question whether the invention is patent-eligible under 35 U.S.C. § 101.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Aaron M. Panner
Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick, P.L.L.C.

For respondent
Melissa Bailey
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Linked docket
18A8

Proceedings

  1. Oct 01 2018
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Sep 05 2018
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/24/2018.
  3. Sep 05 2018
    Reply of petitioner Smartflash LLC filed. (Distributed)
  4. Aug 22 2018
    Brief of respondents Apple Inc., Samsung Electronics America, Inc., and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. in opposition filed.
  5. Aug 22 2018
    Waiver of right of respondent Google, LLC to respond filed.
  6. Aug 21 2018
    Waiver of right of Francisco, Noel J. United States to respond filed.
  7. Aug 09 2018
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due September 13, 2018)
  8. Jul 05 2018
    Application (18A8) granted by The Chief Justice extending the time to file until August 9, 2018.
  9. Jun 28 2018
    Application (18A8) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from July 10, 2018 to August 9, 2018, submitted to The Chief Justice.
    Main DocumentLower Court Orders/OpinionsProof of Service