Patent Law

Global-Tech v. SEB: Supreme Court Argument Tomorrow

By Jason Rantanen

By Jason Rantanen

Tomorrow the Supreme Court will hear arguments in Global-Tech v. SEB, a case with broad implications for the doctrine of inducement of patent infringement.  Previous Patently-O postings on the subject, including summaries of several of the briefs, are provided below.  Unsurprisingly, there are a wide range of opinions as to the proper standard, with positions ranging from strict liability on the question of infringement to recklessness to requiring knowledge or purpose to infringe a patent. 

• Supreme Court to Hear Case on Inducing Patent Infringement
• Global-Tech v. SEB: Petitioner's Merits Briefs
• Global-Tech v SEB: Amicus Briefs
• Global-Tech v. SEB: Respondent and Additional Amicus Briefs

Other Patently-O writings on the subject:

• Inducing Infringement: Knowledge-of-Patent Element Satisfied by "Deliberate Indifference"  (Summarizing the inducement issue in the underlying CAFC opinion, SEB v. Montgomery Ward)
• Federal Circuit Jurisprudence: Moving Beyond Federal Circuit Patent Cases (Discussing the CAFC's use of non-patent and non-Federal Circuit cases in SEB v. Montgomery Ward)
• An Objective View of Fault in Patent Infringement (Expressing my view that the appropriate standard for fault in the context of inducement is neither knowledge/purpose nor strict liability, but objective recklessness)

Full post as published by Patently Obvious on February 22, 2011 (boomark / email).