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SawStop Holding LLC v. United States Patent and Trademark Office, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, No. 2021-2161 · judgment April 11, 2022


Certiorari denied · October 3, 2022
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

The Patent Act adopted by Congress provides that a person shall be entitled to a patent if an invention meets three conditions: the eligibility condition of 35 U.S.C. § 101, the novelty condition of 35 U.S.C. § 102, and the non-obvious subject matter condition of 35 U.S.C. § 103. Beyond the Patent Act, the judiciary has created a fourth condition for patentability called non-statutory double patenting or obviousnesstype double patenting. The Questions Presented Are:

  1. Does the judiciary have the authority to require a patent applicant to meet a condition for patentability not required by the Patent Act?

  2. Is the judicially created doctrine of nonstatutory double patenting ultra vires?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
David Ashley Fanning
Sawstop, LLC

For respondent
Elizabeth B. Prelogar
Solicitor General

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. Oct 03 2022
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Aug 03 2022
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/28/2022.
  3. Aug 01 2022
    Waiver of right of respondent United States Patent and Trademark Office, et al. to respond filed.
  4. Jun 30 2022
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due August 4, 2022)