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adidas AG v. Nike, Inc.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, No. 2019-1787, 2019-1788 · judgment June 25, 2020

Certiorari denied · February 22, 2021

Pre-decision estimate: 3% cert probability

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

Questions presented

Whether, for purposes of the Appointments Clause, U.S. Const. Art. II, § 2, Cl. 2, administrative patent judges of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office are principal officers who must be appointed by the President with the Senate’s advice and consent, or “inferior Officers” whose appointment Congress has permissibly vested in a department head.
Whether, if administrative patent judges are principal officers, the court of appeals properly cured any Appointments Clause defect in the current statutory scheme prospectively by severing the application of 5 U.S.C. § 7513(a) to those judges.

For petitioner
Adam Howard Charnes
Kilpatrick Townsend

For respondent
Aaron Gabriel Fountain
DLA Piper LLP (US)

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Feb 22 2021
Petition DENIED.
Jan 13 2021
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/19/2021.
Jan 08 2021
Reply of petitioner Adidas AG filed. (Distributed)
Dec 28 2020
Brief of respondent Nike, Inc. in opposition filed.
Nov 20 2020
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due December 28, 2020)