Supreme Court agrees to hear two patent cases

Managing IP is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Gardens, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2025

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Supreme Court agrees to hear two patent cases

The US Supreme Court today granted review for two patent cases, one copyright case and one trade mark case. The cases are Limelight Networks v Akamai Technologies, Nautilus v Biosig Instruments, ABC v Aereo and POM Wonderful v Coca-Cola

US Supreme Court

A number of other patent cases were up for vote in conference but were not granted review.

The Nautilus v Biosig case revolves around Section 112(b), which defines specification. Two questions have been presented in the case:

(1) Whether the Federal Circuit’s acceptance of ambiguous patent claims with multiple reasonable interpretations – so long as the ambiguity is not “insoluble” by a court – defeats the statutory requirement of particular and distinct patent claiming;

(2) Whether the presumption of validity dilutes the requirement of particular and distinct patent claiming.

Limelight v Akamai is a case that may clarify the law on so-called divided infringement. This is when two separate parties each perform different steps of a method claim. Akamai believes that Limelight infringed its patent covering a method for handling web traffic more efficiently by performing some steps and inducing its customers to perform others.

Akamai filed its petition requesting certiorari last February. Limelight in response asked the Supreme Court to accept the case and reaffirm the conclusion of a 1961 case Aro Manufacturing v Convertible Top Replacement of: “If there is no direct infringement of a patent there can be no [indirect] infringement”.

In ABC v Aereo it is contended that Aereo violates media companies’ copyrights by using thousands of small antennas to receive broadcast signals without paying fees. Broadcasters believes the federal appeal court ruling that favoured Aereo will encourage other cable and satellite providers to avoid paying so-called retransmission fees to carry programming.

The Supreme Court will also hear POM Wonderful v Coca-Cola, a dispute over whether a beverage label is misleading or false.

The highest profile case not granted review was Soverain v Newegg. Other cases not granted review were Power Integrations v Fairchild Semiconductor Int’l, Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association v Monsanto and Metso Mineral Industries v Powerscreen International Distribution.

more from across site and SHARED ros bottom lb

More from across our site

A $110 million US verdict against Apple and an appellate order staying a $39 million trademark infringement finding against Amazon were also among the top talking points
Attorneys are watching how AI affects trademark registrations and whether a SCOTUS ruling from last year will have broader free speech implications
Patent lawyers explain why they will be keeping an eye on the implications of a pharma case and on changes at the USPTO in the second half of 2025
The insensitive reaction to a UK politician crying on TV proves we have a long way to go before we can say we are tackling workplace wellbeing
Adrian Percer says he was impressed by the firm’s work on billion-dollar cases as well as its culture
In our latest interview with women IP leaders, Catherine Bonner at Murgitroyd discusses technology, training, and teaching
Developments included an update in the VAR dispute between Ballinno and UEFA, the latest CMS updates, and a swathe of market moves
The LMG Life Sciences Americas Awards is thrilled to present the 2025 shortlist
A new order has brought the total security awarded to a Canadian tech company to $45 million, the highest-ever by an Indian court in an IP case
Andrew Blattman reflects on how IP practices have changed and shares his hopes for increased AI use and better performance on the stock market
Gift this article